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iMac

Submission + - Macs better value for money than Vista

Submitted by Atari Ya
Atari Ya writes: Buying Apple Macs — or exploring desktop Linux — is better value than upgrading to Vista, according to a poll of senior IT users by silicon.com. The anti-Vista verdict follows a recent interview with the CIO of Capital & Regional who described Macs as "smarter money" than upgrading to Vista.

From the article:
"I feel we are being railroaded and the market generally forced into a corner or even a cul-de-sac. In a free market we have made Microsoft dominant and now we have the collective responsibility to reverse this situation to re-establish balance and competition. If I am being driven down the Vista route then an Apple Mac is smarter money and cheaper."
Programming

Submission + - Open Source coding as a Charitable Tax Deduction

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Here's my Ask Slashdot (no links to my blog or homepage, as I don't want my server to die):

Speaking for U.S. tax law only, there is something called an "in-kind contribution of professional services." This allows people with particular skills to perform a service (design, coding, carpentry, etc.) for a registered not-for-profit, receive a letter from the NFP stating the market value of the service provided, then itemize that value in the charitable donations section of their Federal income tax return. Is there any reason why coders on open source projects who choose to donate their personal copyright (i.e., their coding) to the main project (as long as it is a registered non-profit) couldn't claim a tax deduction for a gift of in-kind professional services? If so, this could provide a measure of compensation to open source coders.
Digital

Submission + - Burned by DRM and MLB (kousenit.com)

Submitted by
kousen
kousen writes: "Back in late 2004, I purchased and downloaded several Major League Baseball game files from mlb.com. The files all have a "wmv" extension. The first time they are played in Windows Media Player (the only media player supported at the time), they are supposed to access a site at MLB.com and acquire a license.

As you may have guessed, I recently tried to play one of those files, and the license site no longer exists. My "backup" of the licenses, acquired at the time, is on an old system I no longer use.

I tried calling the toll free number at MLB. Eventually a manager there told me I need to access their digital download service. He also admitted the service is not only not available, it has not been available all year. Even worse, he wasn't even sure whether or not it will ever be available again, though he suggested I keep checking.

So basically, I'm out of luck, unless someone here has any ideas how I can get around this idiotic DRM issue. Can anyone help me?"

Some 7-11s Become Kwik-E-Marts 264

Posted by Zonk from the who-needs-the-kwik-e-mart-now-comes-the-tricky-part dept.
caffiend666 writes "According to a Yahoo News story some 7-11s are being rebranded into Simpsons 'Kwik-E-Marts' . The makeover includes fronting on the buildings that make it look like a cartoon, Simpsons merchandise on the shelves, and Simpsons show brands available for purchase in the store. From the article: 'The Fox/7-Eleven deal is an example of a practice called reverse product placement. Instead of just putting products prominently in a movie or TV show, fake goods move from the screen to reality ... Customers have been looking at Squishees and KrustyO's and Buzz Cola for years and have never been able to put their hands on it.' Since the film is PG-13, no Duff beer will be available in the stores." If you're looking for one near you, 7-11 has the list of locations on their website.
The Courts

Submission + - Washington Woman Sues RIAA for Attorneys Fees 1

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "A Washington woman sued by the RIAA has asked the Court to award her attorneys fees, after the record company plaintiffs (Interscope Records, Capitol Records, SONY BMG, Atlantic Recording, BMG Music, and Virgin Records) dropped their case against her after two (2) years of litigation, in Interscope v. Leadbetter. The brief submitted by her attorneys (pdf) pointed out the similarity between Ms. Leadbetter's case and Capitol v. Foster. In Leadbetter, as in Foster, the RIAA sued the woman solely because she had paid for an internet access account, and then later in the case attempted to plead "secondary liability" against her without any factual basis for doing so. This tactic had been repudiated by Judge Lee R. West in Capitol v. Foster as "marginal" and "untested" in his initial decision awarding attorneys fees, and in his later decision denying the RIAA's motion for reconsideration."
Security

Microsoft's IIS is Twice as Likely to Host Malware? 163

Posted by Zonk from the consider-the-source dept.
eldavojohn writes "According to Google, Microsoft's server software is at least twice as likely to host viruses or malware. The reason why? 'Google reports that IIS is likely used to distribute malware more often than Apache because many IIS installs are on pirated Windows versions which aren't configured to automatically download patches. (Even pirated Windows versions can automatically receive security fixes, however.) Our analysis demonstrates how important it is to keep web servers patched to the latest patch level,' Google notes."
The Courts

Submission + - Second Life Arbitration Clause Unenforceable

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "In a decision that could have far-reaching implications, a federal court in Pennsylvania has held that the California arbitration clause in the "take it or leave it" clickwrap agreement on the "Second Life" website is unconscionable, and therefore unenforceable. In its decision (pdf) in Bragg v. Linden Research, Inc., No. 06-4925 (E.D. Pa. May 30, 2007), the Court concluded that the Second Life 'terms of service' seek to impose a one-sided dispute resolution scheme that tilts unfairly, "in almost all situations," in Second Life's favor. As a result, the case will stay in Pennsylvania federal court, instead of being transferred to an arbitration forum in California."
Security

Submission + - http://www.space.com/news/060707_graves_web.html

Submitted by
arthurpaliden
arthurpaliden writes: "A French space-surveillance radar has detected 20-30 satellites in low Earth orbit that do not figure in the U.S. Defense Department's published catalogue, a discovery that French officials say they will use to pressure U.S. authorities to stop publishing the whereabouts of French reconnaissance and military communications satellites.

"They told us, 'If we have not published it in our catalogue, then it does not exist.' So I guess we have been tracking objects that do not exist. I can tell you that some of these non-existent objects have solar arrays.""
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - LOLCODE: scripting code for a new generation

Submitted by
Tumbleweed
Tumbleweed writes: " LOLCODE is a new scripting language being designed to more closely match current trends in language grammar and syntax; LOLCODE will likely appeal to a new generation of web coders.

LOLCODE features keywords like these: can-has, gimmeh, hai, i-has-a, im-in-yr, im-outta-yr, kthxbye and
visible. My favourite example:

HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
I HAS A VAR
GIMMEH VAR
IZ VAR BIGGER THAN 10 O RLY?
        YA RLY
                BTW this is true
                VISIBLE "BIG NUMBER!"
        NO WAI
                BTW this is false
                VISIBLE "LITTLE NUMBER!"
        KTHX
KTHXBYE"
Power

Submission + - Has DIGG seen the SLASHDOT light

Submitted by ScrewTivo
ScrewTivo writes: Power ... or ABUSE of power. Here is proof that DIGG is stuffing the ballot box. Slashdot has an authoritarian method of promoting stories. As a long time member I know that and accept that. Howerver DIGG was to be a social voting network. Well it turns out some have more powerful votes than others. Is this a major misrepresentation of DIGG? I am not sure how long this proof will be visible but here it is:
This article has 32 DIGGS . Go to News -> World & Business -> Political News sort by "most popular" You can go down to the stories with only 4 votes and still not find this article!

It hurts to see Slashdot trying to be like DIGG when really Slashdot should just be a great Slashdot.
Television

Submission + - Venezuela Gov't shuts down oldest TV station

Submitted by Seakip18
Seakip18 writes: The Venezuela State Governement did not renew a license for it's oldest television station, RCTV, this past Sunday. The station was the nations longest broadcasting station for 54 years. After the license expired at midnight, a state-owned Television station, VTV, immediately took over and began broadcasting. The Gov't also begin filing complaints against Univision and CNN for the broadcasting of "a lie which linked President Chavez to violence and murder" and general defamation of President Chavez. The incident refered to is CNN's mistaken broadcasting of images and stories that appeared next to the name of Venezuela President, Hugo Chavez. The EU and US have both issued codemnations of the Venezuleas actions.
Google

Submission + - Google launches Street Level Views for Maps

Submitted by
geekfactory
geekfactory writes: "This morning at Where 2.0 in San Jose, Google announced Street Level maps utilizing a 360 degree view of local streets (so you can "fly from satellite to street level") using immersive 360 degree video from Immersive Media. I'm imagining getting directions, then stopping halfway through to zoom down and look at a 360 degree view of the street to find a restaurant, or a mall, or a gas station. Immersive Media has some cool demos of what they're doing for Google here: http://demos.immersivemedia.com/onlinecities/"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft patent claims: A dealying tactic ?

Submitted by
ppadala
ppadala writes: "PCWorld is reporting that Linux Foundation's Jim Zemlin said Microsoft's recent patent claim against Linux and the open source community is a delaying tactic to merely help protect its profits, according to a column penned May 25 in BusinessWeek.

"What most people don't realize is that the story really isn't about patents at all — it's about a rational actor trying to protect its privileged position," wrote Zemlin, the executive director of the consortium.
"
Biotech

Submission + - Flowers For Algernon

Submitted by
Baldrson
Baldrson writes: "Drug Researcher reports that Algernon lives: ''...[R]esearchers ... have conditionally knocked out a specific gene to prevent an enzyme called cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) from being produced, but only in the brain. This led to the mice becoming more adept at learning and also able to more quickly decipher environmental changes...."It's pretty rare that you make mice 'smarter,' so there are a lot of cognitive implications," said Dr Bibb. "Everything is more meaningful to these mice," he said. "The increase in sensitivity to their surroundings seems to have made them smarter." ''

The mice did have a more difficult adolescence than the "normal" mice, who bit them and pushed them off the wheel when the researcher wasn't looking."

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