1193107
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The LA Times and others are reporting the music industry is working with SanDisk to try unrestricted music files on SD memory cards to improve sales of physical media: "In addition to music, the slotMusic cards will come pre-loaded with other things, such as liner notes, album-cover artwork and sometimes video." The important part: "The music on slotMusic comes without copyright protection, so it can be used on almost all computers, mobile phones and music players — but it won't play on an iPod, which doesn't have a micro-SD memory slot. It has one gigabyte of memory, and the music tracks are played back at high quality." Could it be the labels have finally recognized that providing features and convenience to customers is preferable to suing them?
1154321
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The Wall Street Journal and the Telegraph are reporting that the US Department of Justice has hired a top litigator in anticipation of an antitrust suit against Google The US Justice Department has hired one of America's best-known litigators, former Walt Disney vice chairman Sanford Litvack, for a possible antitrust challenge to Google's growing power in advertising. His hiring is the strongest signal yet that the US is preparing to take court action against Google and its search-advertising deal with Yahoo, the WSJ claims. US lawyers have been deposing witnesses and issuing subpoenas for documents to support a challenge to the deal for week, the WSJ reported, quoting lawyers close to the review. However, it adds that such efforts don't always mean a case will be brought. The lawyers close to the review are reported to have said that Mr Litvack, who was the Justice Department antitrust chief under President Jimmy Carter, has been asked to examine the evidence gathered so far and to build a case if the decision is made to proceed.
788167
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg have teamed to put $375 million into anti-smoking programs.: "Microsoft founder Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are pooling their piles of money to pour $375 million into a global effort to cut smoking.
The billionaire philanthropists, who have a combined worth of more than $70 billion, said Wednesday that the money will help efforts in developing countries where tobacco use is highest. There are more than 1 billion smokers worldwide." Buy Vista, trade a smoking human for a smoking SSD!
718921
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The Yahoo / Microsoft deal will not happen, TheStreet.com reports today:
Shares of Yahoo! slumped following reports that talks with Microsoft concluded with no agreement, and Yahoo! will instead announce a search partnership with Google.
Yahoo! later confirmed the breakdown with Microsoft, saying that the software giant was "unequivocally" not interested in pursuing an acquisition of all of Yahoo!, "even at the price range [$33 a share] it had previously suggested."
Yahoo! also said it had turned down a proposal by Microsoft to buy Yahoo!'s search business alone.
680748
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
Greenpeace warns console gamers: "If you regularly play the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, you'd better not hope to have sex anytime soon, or at least not at "normal" levels, says Greenpeace. And guys should be especially wary. The environmental group today released a statement about the consoles' chemical composition, saying that certain chemicals used when manufacturing the PS3 and Xbox 360 can "interfere" with proper sexual development in mammals, especially human males." What is the normal level of sex for a Slashdotter?
646060
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
I just posted a story about Network Neighborhood Watch. Turns out it is not what it seems. DHS has nothing to do with it.
646048
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The DHS has an interesting new initiative: The "Home Network Awareness Program" — Identifying terrorists is no easy task since they become a part of the community and rely on its resources, especially for communication. Cities, towns, and suburbs all across our nation often have computer networks. These networks are located within places of business, commerce, as well as our homes. With the widespread adoption and usage of wireless networks, it has created a climate that is ripe for exploitation by terrorists. Since these networks often times are unsecured or offered as a free service to the public it allows any individual to use them, including terrorists. Even the networks that reside in our homes can be used by terrorists who maybe our own neighbors or fellow building residents. Therefore it is imperative that these networks do not go unmonitored. That is why the Neighborhood Network Watch was established and why now the Home Network Awareness Program has been created to allows individuals like yourself to make sure that terrorists may not be using your own home network to plan the next attack on our nation or your very own community. If you are interested in participating in the Home Network Awareness Program please download the in depth step by step guide to collecting network data with TCPDUMP, "How To Sniff Network Traffic." Also, watch the following public service announcements: "Introduction to the Home Network Awareness Program", "How to Watch Terrorist Activity on My Home Network, as well as My Neighbors"
To contribute data you have collected, please visit the Home Network Awareness Program Wiki. Sign up for an account on the wiki and upload your data using the "upload file" link on the left hand side.
639224
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
Rufus Terrill, a 57-year-old ex-Marine bar owner and engineer in Atlanta, says that vagrants are destroying his neighborhood. Terrill says he's tried many ways to keep such bad guys off the streets. First he patrolled the area on foot with an assault rifle in hand — that didn't fly with police. Next he started shooing people away with a spotlight, but some rascally locals flashed their own guns in response. Then Terrill's wife suggested a novel idea: Why not build a robot to fight loiterers? After all, robots now defuse bombs, clean carpets, and take care of senior citizens. Surely a bot could help keep drug-users away. Enter the Bum Bot. That's what Terrill calls the vagrant-fighting robot he built last fall — a man-high structure of steel and plywood covered in black rubber gym mats, the thing looks like a special effect-shop reject, but it's also scary as all get out. However, homeless advocates are up-in-arms, justifiably; neither Terrill nor his vigilante bot have any legal jurisdiction over his streets, and surely we don't want to live in a world in which engineers are free to build their own bot-weapons to unleash upon the citizenry.
579964
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
What are we to make of a security comparison between OS X and say, Vista, when Apple releases patches for so many critical fixes to the OS? Not trying to start a flame war, but what does this say about the security of OS X?
484138
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The Wall Street Journal reports "Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates plans to call for a revision of capitalism that uses market forces to address the needs of poor countries, which he feels are being ignored. "We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well," Mr. Gates will say in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Key to Mr. Gates's plan will be for businesses to dedicate their top people to poor issues — an approach he feels is more powerful than traditional corporate donations and volunteer work. Governments should set policies and disburse funds to create financial incentives for businesses to improve the lives of the poor, he plans to say.
Mr. Gates's argument for the potential profitability of serving the poor is certain to raise skepticism, and some people may point out that poverty became a priority for Mr. Gates only after he'd earned billions building up Microsoft. But Mr. Gates is emphatic that he's not calling for a fundamental change in how capitalism works."
389921
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
News outlets are reporting "British trust in the way government stores and secures vital personal information was sorely tested Wednesday after it emerged that sensitive data on about 25 million Britons (almost half the population) was lost in the mail in an unprecedented security blunder. Computer files on 7.25 million families — everyone with children under 16 — have been missing ever since they were sent on two compact discs through the domestic mail system a month ago by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs." The choice quote: "If you centralize data, what will fail is the carbon-based life form (humans), not the technology," says Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, a watchdog group.
349013
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
David Brooks, columnist for the New York Times, describes how he outsourced his brain to our many silicon manservants. His car navigation system, mobile phone, Google and iTunes have replaced much of what he was required to think about in the past. Do you remember your own phone number? The names of the artists of the music on your iPod? Do you write things down or figure you will just Google for something when you need it again? Hello Mr. Brooks. Now it's time for you to meet Slashdot, where we let others express opinions for us, too!
328189
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
Various sites are featuring this latest clever use of the web. Someone named Zack made a down payment on an as yet unbuilt condo in Miami. Like a lot of other investors, now he wants to sell it but can't. Why not sell parts of it to people on the web? If and when he sells the condo, people who bought "link units" (not shares, SEC violation!) will presumably be paid back, maybe even with a 3. Profit! In the meantime, Zack is selling ad space on his site, which has been getting more traffic as people hear about the site. Dot-com eyeballs revenue stream! (Full disclosure, I didn't buy a certificate, so no money to me if /.-ers /. his site.) Just thought it was a good tech / business story.
201389
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The NewYorker magazine has book review describing our common misunderstanding of the value of technology and its ultimate use: "The way we think about technology tends to elide the older things, even though the texture of our lives would be unrecognizable without them. And when we do consider technology in historical terms we customarily see it as a driving force of progress: every so often, it seems, an innovation — the steam engine, electricity, computers — brings a new age into being. In "The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900", by David Edgerton, a well-known British historian of modern military and industrial technology, offers a vigorous assault on this narrative. He thinks that traditional ways of understanding technology, technological change, and the role of technology in our lives, have been severely distorted by what he calls "the innovation-centric account" of technology." This is also the first /. topic I know of that is linked to the NewYorker magazine!
194837
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
TheStreet.com is reporting today that Steve Jobs exchanged his options for shares too early: If you're kicking yourself for missing out on Apple ( right now, you're not alone. iPhone mania (should we now coin the phrase "i-Mania" for the next Apple product?) has sent the stock soaring to an all-time high. The stock is up a stunning 1,600% since early 2003. No one thought it would come this far. Even those who got in early, and stayed along for the amazing ride, wish they owned a lot more. One name on that list will astonish you: Steve Jobs.
