Comment Re:Bring back the Pharoahs (Score 1, Flamebait) 413
No argument. It's a religion of hate. They give no peace, they get no peace.
Submission + - Technology, Not Law, Limits Mass Surveillance (technologyreview.com) 1
holy_calamity writes: U.S. citizens have historically been protected from government surveillance by technical limits, not legal ones, writes independent security researcher Ashkan Soltani at MIT Tech Review. He claims that recent leaks show that technical limits are loosening, fast, with data storage and analysis cheap and large Internet services taking care of data collection for free. "Spying no longer requires following people or planting bugs, but rather filling out forms to demand access to an existing trove of information," writes Soltani.
Submission + - Banks Need Tougher Love From the Fed (wsj.com)
hunterrhodes writes: The Federal Reserve has taken another step on its post-financial-crisis journey toward a stronger, more resilient banking system. But the road stretches on.
The Fed on Tuesday approved final rules regarding new capital standards known as Basel III. These increase requirements for the amount of common equity banks need to hold, among other things. Although most large banks already meet the new, more stringent requirements, their formal adoption shows the U.S. won’t backslide, even as some have called for scrapping the Basel approach.
The Fed on Tuesday approved final rules regarding new capital standards known as Basel III. These increase requirements for the amount of common equity banks need to hold, among other things. Although most large banks already meet the new, more stringent requirements, their formal adoption shows the U.S. won’t backslide, even as some have called for scrapping the Basel approach.
Submission + - Fedora 19 released (paritynews.com)
hypnosec writes: The Fedora Project has officially announced the release of Fedora 19 "Schrödinger's Cat" today. Some of the features of the open source distribution are Developer’s assistant that accelerates development efforts by providing templates, samples and toolchains for a different languages; OpenShift Origin that allows easy building of Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) infrastructure; node.js; Ruby 2.0.0; MariaDB database; Checkpoint & Restore that allows users to checkpoint and restore processes; and OpenLMI which makes remote management of machines simpler among others. The distribution also packs GNOME 3.8, KDE Plasma Workspace 4.10 and MATE Desktop 1.6.
Comment Re:I tested Windows 8.1 (Score 1) 543
Bahah, bahahahaha! Nice one! I literally lol'd.
Comment Re:I tested Windows 8.1 (Score 1) 543
The idea of tablets taking over the world is a terrifying proposition to me, and it's given me numerous "I don't want to live on this planet anymore" moments. The cloud is pure evil, tablets are not good for serious work (remember multitasking? A CLI you could use if you wanted? A decent CPU? Freedom to use a different OS outside an emulator or VM?) and they cater to people who have no serious uses for their devices. People who want music and facebook and videos and maybe some cheap 2D games. PCs are for people who want power, freedom, and productivity. If the world was more intelligent, tablets would have been DOA. I still miss netbooks. I am on one now. I love it. It's served me since '09. The death of netbooks was mourned bitterly by me.
Comment Re:I tested Windows 8.1 (Score 1) 543
Well yes, compared to most people's perception of the current incarnation being a downgrade.
Submission + - Best Search Engine? (Or, Is Google in Decline?)
rueger writes: Reading about the end of AltaVista, I was more interested in the number of comments suggesting that Google just isn't delivering the way it used to.
My own experience suggests that it's increasingly less likely that a Google search will generate a page of results that's immediately useful. At least if "useful" excludes ask.com, bad computer "experts", and shopping sites.
So, hard core search engine users: what's out there that matches the Google of five years ago, or which could be the next big thing?
Submission + - AMD/ATI drops WindowsXP support (amd.com) 1
Billly Gates writes: The latest beta drivers for the Catalyst drivers control suite only list Vista as the lowest version they will support. We still have almost a year before WindowsXP support finally ends. Will NVidia follow?
So if you own a AMD system you will not receive audio, chipset, video, or any other drivers for your XP system and must upgrade or use an outdated legacy version. Looks like another death knell for this very long lasting platform.
So if you own a AMD system you will not receive audio, chipset, video, or any other drivers for your XP system and must upgrade or use an outdated legacy version. Looks like another death knell for this very long lasting platform.
Submission + - Australian hacker, who hit Microsoft and Sony, fears possible arrest after raid (computerworld.com.au)
An anonymous reader writes: Dylan Wheeler of Perth says he obtained the software development kits for both the next Xbox and PlayStation by hacking into Microsoft's and Sony's networks. He placed a bogus listing on Ebay advertising the SDK for Durango, the codename for the next Xbox. It garnered a bid for more than $50,000. Eventually, Microsoft literally came knocking at his door. Despite a friendly rapport with Microsoft, the police came a few months later, seizing his credit card and computers. He hasn't been charged with a crime yet, but he's worried. Observers liken him to Aaron Swartz, part of a class of hackers who don't mean harm or are seeking financial gain.
Submission + - Music industry making more money from digital downloads (highlycurrent.info)
An anonymous reader writes: It seems that the music industry is making more money now than ever before on digital download music content and "other new sources", enough that it can off-set the decline in CD sales. So it goes to show that people do legally purchase digital music files thus supporting content providers in ways other than just buying hard CD's. The more....
Submission + - AMD's TressFX Hair gives game characters lovely locks (gizmag.com)
cylonlover writes: The problems associated with rendering realistic hair has held video games back for years. When Nintendo first created the sprite for Mario in the original Donkey Kong, it gave him a hat because it was too difficult to animate his hair. When video games made the leap into the world of real-time 3D graphics, things didn't get much better. Today AMD is officially unveiling its solution, TressFX Hair, that will significantly improve the look of virtual hair beginning with the new Tomb Raider. AMD's primary rival, Nvidia, has also taken notice of the problem – it demonstrated its own tech back in 2010, and some are speculating the company's PhysX engine will have a hair component. But today's announcement from AMD is a bit more exciting because the company worked closely with Tomb Raider's developer, Crystal Dynamics, to implement TressFX in a playable game, and because it will work on any DirectX 11 card (including AMD's competitors).
Submission + - Is Apple losing its 'king of cool' crown? (afr.com)
An anonymous reader writes: What does Apple need to do too stay ahead? or is it already too late? With Samsung, Sony, HTC, HP and others back on the charge, has Apple come back to the pack?
Submission + - The Mobile Market: An open letter to the EFF
An anonymous reader writes: This is a letter I sent to the Electronic Frontier Foundation regarding what I perceive as the very real dangers that the current mobile market presents to the industry. Below are the contents:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello, I would like to bring a serious matter to your attention.
Specifically, the user freedom and rights damage, along with
the degradation in choice, power, and usefulness, that the
mobile and cloud movement is slowly eroding. Please take the time
to read this message. It is a plea that you start an aggressive campaign
showing users and the world at large the significant dangers of
this new trend.
Here are the major concerns.
1. Tablets and smartphones prevent user modification and even repair
in many cases, and the arena is heading towards disposable electronics,
which besides the immense waste this could create, it forces users to
spend far more money than they may be able to afford to stay up-to-date
in the modern world.
2. Tablets and smartphones are eroding usability and functionality
with minimalist interfaces, poor input methods, and poor processing power,
which has it's place, but a vast number of journalists are stating that
"The PC is dead", which is becoming a self fulfilling prophecy.
Functionality that was once standard in every OS is now being removed
from desktop operating systems to provide integration with mobile devices,
for example, window management. See Windows 8.
3. Linked to reason #2, if PCs die, many independent app developers and small
software companies will vanish, because the only powerful computers able to compile
code at a tolerable speed and run large applications will be sold at a premium by a
select few companies, at price ranges far outside the average consumer's ability.
App selections will decrease and the world will rely on a few multinational corporations'
software, which may or may not be of acceptable quality. Interpretive languages such
as javascript are also causing performance penalties in app development in the mobile
world. Even if compilers and development tools, full docking stations and mice are
made for these computing devices, they still will provide a fraction of the power that a
desktop will provide for a price not far greater than that of a tablet or smartphone.
4. Operating system choice and upgradability is currently in a state of horrible disrepair
due to the use of non-standardized, often locked firmwares. This forces a user to use whatever
operating system is shipped with their device, even if no upgrades are provided. In some cases,
modifying the software on your device, or swapping it out, could even be illegal.
5. These tablets and other devices are often of poor build quality, and I frequently see
people using devices with badly cracked screens and overused batteries. Manufacturers
are moving towards a "you can't open the case" model, which I find highly disturbing.
This prevents a simple practice as small as replacing the battery yourself.
The point of this article is to show the world the inherent dangers of investing heavily
in tablets and smartphones, and to encourage the world to not count out the still very real
relevance of the PC, even if not a desktop, which will likely remain notably
relevant for a long time to come. Thank you for your time. I sincerely hope you will consider
taking action.
-Subsentient
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello, I would like to bring a serious matter to your attention.
Specifically, the user freedom and rights damage, along with
the degradation in choice, power, and usefulness, that the
mobile and cloud movement is slowly eroding. Please take the time
to read this message. It is a plea that you start an aggressive campaign
showing users and the world at large the significant dangers of
this new trend.
Here are the major concerns.
1. Tablets and smartphones prevent user modification and even repair
in many cases, and the arena is heading towards disposable electronics,
which besides the immense waste this could create, it forces users to
spend far more money than they may be able to afford to stay up-to-date
in the modern world.
2. Tablets and smartphones are eroding usability and functionality
with minimalist interfaces, poor input methods, and poor processing power,
which has it's place, but a vast number of journalists are stating that
"The PC is dead", which is becoming a self fulfilling prophecy.
Functionality that was once standard in every OS is now being removed
from desktop operating systems to provide integration with mobile devices,
for example, window management. See Windows 8.
3. Linked to reason #2, if PCs die, many independent app developers and small
software companies will vanish, because the only powerful computers able to compile
code at a tolerable speed and run large applications will be sold at a premium by a
select few companies, at price ranges far outside the average consumer's ability.
App selections will decrease and the world will rely on a few multinational corporations'
software, which may or may not be of acceptable quality. Interpretive languages such
as javascript are also causing performance penalties in app development in the mobile
world. Even if compilers and development tools, full docking stations and mice are
made for these computing devices, they still will provide a fraction of the power that a
desktop will provide for a price not far greater than that of a tablet or smartphone.
4. Operating system choice and upgradability is currently in a state of horrible disrepair
due to the use of non-standardized, often locked firmwares. This forces a user to use whatever
operating system is shipped with their device, even if no upgrades are provided. In some cases,
modifying the software on your device, or swapping it out, could even be illegal.
5. These tablets and other devices are often of poor build quality, and I frequently see
people using devices with badly cracked screens and overused batteries. Manufacturers
are moving towards a "you can't open the case" model, which I find highly disturbing.
This prevents a simple practice as small as replacing the battery yourself.
The point of this article is to show the world the inherent dangers of investing heavily
in tablets and smartphones, and to encourage the world to not count out the still very real
relevance of the PC, even if not a desktop, which will likely remain notably
relevant for a long time to come. Thank you for your time. I sincerely hope you will consider
taking action.
-Subsentient
Submission + - Fantasy Artist Overcomes ALS With Technology (blogspot.com)
Penguinshit writes: Francis Tsai, famous fantasy and video game artist, has overcome the debilitating effects of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or "Lou Gehrig's Disease" — the same affliction as Stephen Hawking) by using a computer system that follows his eyes as a cursor. Despite being completely paralyzed, he continues to make amazing art.
