Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Google

Submission + - Dvorak on the gPhone, DOOMED says he! (pcmag.com) 3

drewmoney writes: Speaking with his usual frustrated crankiness, John C. Dvorak (from CNET fame, not to be confused with the good Doctor), rants, cries, and laughs his way through an article explaining why the gPhone will never work. Yes, this is the same Apple basher that made fun of the company when they included a mouse with their systems in 1984.

"There is no evidence that people want to use these things.", he said.

And, yes, this is the same person that made fun of the iBook, saying it looked like it was made for a child. And of course, who could forget when he said that people were making judgment on a product they haven't even used yet, referring to the praise that the iPhone got before its release.

Try to ignore the parts where Mr. Dvorak makes judgement on a product that he hasn't even used yet. And when you're done, feel free to make your own judgements.

Music

Submission + - Radiohead Calls comScore Data "Wholly Inaccura

An anonymous reader writes: Tuesday comScore caused a stir when it said its research on the sales of Radiohead's In Rainbows showed that only 38% of downloaders paid for it. Way off, says the band in a press release issued today:

"In response to purely speculative figures announced in the press regarding the number of downloads and the price paid for the album, the group's representatives would like to remind people that, as the album could only be downloaded from the band's website, it is impossible for outside organisations to have accurate figures on sales...The figures quoted by the company comScore Inc are wholly inaccurate and in no way reflect definitive market intelligence or, indeed, the true success of the project."

The band, naturally, didn't offer any data of its own to offset comScores, but then it's probably good for business to keep everyone guessing.
Announcements

Submission + - Wikileaks releases Guantanmo "bible" (wikileaks.org)

James Hardine writes: Wikileaks has released the Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) standard operating procedures (SOP) for Camp Delta (Guantanamo Bay). This is the primary document for the operation of Guantanamo bay, including the securing and treatment of detainees. The document is extensive and includes, in addition to its text various forms, identity cards and even burial diagrams. It is signed by Major Miller, who Donald Rumsfeld later sent to Abu Ghraib with instructions to "Gitmoize it". The document is the subject of an ongoing legal action between the ACLU, who has been trying to obtain the document and the Department of Defense, who has "witheld it in full". ACLU 0. DoD 0. Wikileaks 1
Displays

Submission + - Computer screens makin' you blind? (sciam.com)

Scott R. writes: "From SciAm.com — Ophthalmologists, optometrists and other eye professionals note a seeming link between myopia, also called nearsightedness, and "near work" — visual activities that take place at a distance of about 40 centimeters (16 inches) from the eye — such as reading a book. Staring at a computer screen qualifies as well, though monitors usually are around 50 centimeters (20 inches) away. But only a small — and mysterious — subset of people see myopic progression from near work, whether they are focusing on a computer or accounting books. The fact that near work doesn't lead to myopia in all of us, however, doesn't mean sitting close to a computer screen causes no problems. Though for most it is not permanently damaging, computer near work leads to an uncomfortable, at times debilitating, list of symptoms collectively known as eyestrain."
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Chess Boxing: Out of the basement, into the ring

AmIAnAi writes: BBC News reports on the first ever Chess Boxing World Championship in Berlin, won by 'Anti Terror' Frank Stoldt from Germany. Chess Boxing is described as:

a competition which requires both brains and brawn
The World Chess Boxing Organisation is even looking for new chessboxers. Fancy beating someone with your fists AND brain for a change?
Programming

Submission + - How Should One Form a Tech Workers Union? (iitwu.org)

jmadler writes: "With the many horror stories of regular-pay forced overtime before deadlines and permanent temps in order to avoid paying benefits at such large IT corporations as EA, IBM, and Microsoft, Isn't it time that we — the blue collar workers of the 21st century — formed a union? Although there exist a few tech workers, communications workers, or programmers unions, few have large support. What would be necessary to jump start a programmers union?"
The Internet

Submission + - Did 'crowdsourcing' impede Fossett search?

netbuzz writes: "The much-publicized participation of 50,000 amateur searchers using Amazon's "Mechanical Turk" project may have been more than futile, it may actually have gotten in the way of professionals trying to find Steve Fossett's airplane, according to an officer in the civil air patrol. "In hindsight, I wish (they) hadn't been there," she says at the very bottom of a Wired story that otherwise focuses on the feelings of the virtual searchers that they may have been wasting their time. Believers in the wisdom of crowds sometimes forget that even the best-intentioned of them can be unruly.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/21640"
Censorship

Submission + - Facebook is censoring Ron Paul

An anonymous reader writes: It appears that Facebook is censoring searches for "Ron Paul". Searches for presidential candidate "Ron Paul" in Facebook Groups yield zero results. The reason isn't because there aren't any Ron Paul groups — a search for "Paul" shows hundreds. For some reason, the search is blocked. Other candidate show up just fine. More than 500 groups show up for each of John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and others. TechCrunch has the story.
Windows

Submission + - London Stock Exchange Down Due to Glitch

mormop writes: If like me you feel slightly ill when you see the Microsoft get the FUD adverts you may smile a little after reading that the London Stock Exchange that has achieved unprecedented reliability by switching to server 2003 was today shut down for an unprecedented period of time by computer failure. To quote TFA, a stockbroker who did not wish to be named said: "We are paralysed. Nothing like this has happened before. I am extremely annoyed."

How much does several hours lost trading cost? I know you shouldn't mock the afflicted but somehow I just can't stop myself.

Click here for TFA
Censorship

Submission + - Facebook Censors Ron Paul Groups

An anonymous reader writes: I'm a member of the "Ron Paul NCSU chapter group". Today I noticed a group news update that reads
"Facebook is no longer allowing searches for Ron Paul groups. Please send your friends links to this group if they want to join, since they will not be able to find it otherwise."
After two quick searches that produced the following results:
Displaying 1 — 10 out of over 500 group results for: Hillary Clinton
Displaying 1 — 10 out of over 500 group results for: Barack Obama
I searched for Ron Paul and saw the message.
"I've got nothing for you. Try a new search."
This is particularly interesting considering I am a member of both the national group, and my university's group. I suggest that all facebook members go Here and report this problem to facebook.
Education

Submission + - How Migratory Birds Find Their Way Home (scienceblogs.com)

grrlscientist writes: "Is it possible that migratory birds can actually SEE the Earth's magnetic field and use it to find their way home?

From the article: Every year, millions of birds migrate to their breeding grounds and then back to their wintering grounds again. These birds' journies cover anywhere between several hundred to many thousands of miles, even when the skies are cloudy or dark. How do birds unerringly find their way to their destinations? Thanks to recent research on this topic, part of the answer might be the presence of a special protein in avian eyes that is sensitive to blue light, cryptochrome."

Space

Submission + - Solar Wind Disrupts Planetary Metronome

Ponca City, We Love You writes: "Measuring the rotation rate of a planet with no solid surface is no easy task, but it's important in determining how gas giant planets like Saturn form because a planet's rotation rate, along with its gravity field, sheds light on the size of any rocky core it may have. In the 1980s, NASA's Voyager spacecraft measured regular pulses of radio waves coming from Saturn every 10 hours and 39 minutes and postulated that they were due to a "bump" in Saturn's magnetic field carried around with the planet's rotation.The Cassini spacecraft recently showed that the period of the pulses varies by several minutes on a timescale of months and years and since Saturn is too massive for its spin rate to change so quickly, suggested that the pulses are not precisely tied to the planet's rotation rate after all. Now scientists in France have found that the time between pulses tends to increase when the solar wind is slower, and shortens when the solar wind speeds up leading them to suspect that the solar wind causes the spot of intense aurora activity in Saturn's atmosphere to move around leading to fluctuations in the time period between pulses."

Slashdot Top Deals

Systems programmers are the high priests of a low cult. -- R.S. Barton

Working...