phlack - Slashdot User

Submission + - Silly season on domains again?

Submitted by undulato on Friday July 06, 2012 @08:36AM

undulato writes: I've owned a dictionary word .com domain since I randomly discovered it as being free on register.com in the late 90s. In the meantime I've had various pet projects up on this site and a few years ago when I was strapped for cash I put it up on Sedo and then promptly forgot about this. The other day I received an offer for the domain out of the blue. While it's not a huge amount it's a good starting bid and even though I don't want to sell the domain at the moment I'm not going to turn down a stupid offer.

So my question is — is it silly season on domain names again and just what is a reasonable price to ask for this kind of domain?

Submission + - Photographer threatened with legal action after asserting his copyright (baldheretic.com)

Submitted by JamieKitson on Friday May 25, 2012 @05:14AM

JamieKitson writes: Photographer Jay Lee got more than he bargained for after sending some DMCA take down notifications out to hosts of sites using one of his pictures. One Candice Shwagger accuses him of everything from conspiracy over local sheriff elections to child abuse. Since Candice is now threatening legal action Jay has said he'll take down the post, so here's a snap shot.

After reading the story I checked for use of my own pictures and found one of them being used on a review site without even a credit. Here's a snap shot of that page.

Submission + - Apple may launch video streaming service (digitaltrends.com)

Submitted by

fysdt

on Wednesday August 03, 2011 @10:59AM

fysdt writes: "Apple may have a "secret" video streaming service in the works, according to market analysts and other reports.

Apple is rumored to have a “secret” videos streaming service in the works, according to a note to investors from Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, as reported by Business Insider.

“As part of Apple’s roll-out of cloud video services (and eventually an iTV), we believe Apple has unannounced deals with all/most of the studios/TV networks that are similar to the subscription streaming deal between Amazon and CBS,” writes Misek.

The Amazon-CBS deal Misek references allows Amazon to stream old CBS reruns, which adds more than 2,000 new episodes to Amazon’s streaming lineup."

Submission + - Building Material Absorbs and Releases Heat (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula on Wednesday August 03, 2011 @09:33AM

Zothecula writes: Researchers at the Ningpo, China campus of the University of Nottingham (UNNC) have created a new heat-regulating material that could be used to cut the heating and cooling costs of buildings. The non-deformed storage phase change material (PCM) can be fixed so that it starts absorbing any excess heat above a pre-determined temperature and releasing stored heat when the ambient temperature drops below the set point. The researchers say the material can be manufactured in a variety of shapes and sizes, even small enough so that it can be sprayed as a microscopic film to surfaces in existing buildings.

Submission + - iPad 2 33% Thinner, 2x Faster (apple.com)

Submitted by

CmdrTaco

on Wednesday March 02, 2011 @02:22PM

CmdrTaco writes: "Steve Jobs was on hand today deliver a speech at Apple's iPad 2 event."

Submission + - China Town Arcade Finally Closed (blogspot.com)

Submitted by Vintage on Monday February 28, 2011 @12:18PM

Vintage writes: The last known arcade in NYC has closed over the weekend. Gamers continued playing while machines were moved out, but now little remains.

Submission + - Setting up a big, one day WiFi network? 4

Submitted by

FurryFeet

on Sunday February 27, 2011 @01:48AM

FurryFeet writes: "I work for a medum size K-12 school and have been notified that in a few weeks we'll have a big training event for teachers. We're expecting about 50 teachers to all bring in their laptops for a full-day training session; they'll all need internet access to do the work. I though I'd just set up a couple of Wi-Fi routers and call it a day, but after googling a bit I bumped into the "Wi-Fi at conferences problem"; namely, there is not a good and easy way to give 50 people a great Wi-Fi connection simultaneously. This is a one-day event, so I don't have a lot of budget. Should I just explain the situation and install a bunch of Ethernet cables? Is there any other way to set up this network that won't cost thousands of dollars?"

Submission + - NASA wants spacecraft for Mars return trip (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie on Thursday February 24, 2011 @11:56AM

coondoggie writes: If we ever do get to Mars, getting home might prove to be as difficult. NASA today selected three companies — Alliant Techsystems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman — to being the task of defining the spacecraft that will leave Mars, presumably at first loaded with red planet rock samples, then later possibly humans — for a safe trip back to Earth.

The engineering challenges those three companies face are immense

Submission + - Researchers develop advanced lithium-ion battery f (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 24, 2011 @08:22AM

An anonymous reader writes: Researchers have developed an advanced lithium-ion battery, having high energy content and rate capacity, to make electric vehicles a more realistic alternative to gas-powered automobiles. They used an unique electrode combination — a tin-carbon anode and a lithium-ion cathode — to form the high-performance battery.

Submission + - Google watches while you take their test (i-programmer.info)

Submitted by mikejuk on Thursday February 24, 2011 @07:21AM

mikejuk writes: Google's certification program is special. You can take it at home or at work via the web and they have a way to make sure you don't cheat — they watch you just like in a real physical exam! Biometric identity is established using how you type your password and a video camera takes your photo to make sure you really are you. Then when you take the test there is no rushing off for a comfort break — the video camera is used to watch you and the session is recorded. Specially trained "proctors" keep an eye on you to make sure you don't phone a friend or write anything down.
Its just like being back at school.

Submission + - Windows 7 SP1 Available for Download

Submitted by mvar on Wednesday February 23, 2011 @07:49AM

mvar writes: As expected, Microsoft has made the first Service Pack for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 available for download and started to distribute it via Windows Update. Currently only an ISO file is available for standalone download. It contains the complete packages for x86, x64 and Itanium. Separate packages should be available shortly, with links for downloading x86 and x64 already operative. The 32-bit package is around 550 MB, the x64 package 925 MB and the ISO image just under 2 GB.

Submission + - 24-bit: the new way to make you pay more for music (pcpro.co.uk) 3

Submitted by

Barence

on Wednesday February 23, 2011 @06:45AM

Barence writes: "Apple and music labels are reportedly in discussions to raise the audio quality of of the songs they sell to 24-bit. The move could see digital downloads that surpass CD quality, which is recorded at 16 bits at a sample rate of 44.1kHz. It would also provide Apple and the music labels with an opportunity to "upgrade" people's music collections, raising extra revenue in the process. The big question is whether anyone would even notice the difference between 16-bit and 24-bit files on a portable player, especially with the low-quality earbuds supplied by Apple and other manufacturers. Labels such as Linn Records already sell "studio master" versions of albums in 24-bit FLAC format, but these are targeted at high-end audio buffs with equipment of a high enough calibre to accentuate the improvement in quality."

Submission + - Facebook Password Requests Suspended

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens writes

on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @11:56PM

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The Washington Post reports that Maryland's Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has suspended a roughly year-old practice of asking prospective employees to voluntarily divulge their user names and passwords to social media Web sites such as Facebook. In a statement, the department said requests for user names and passwords had been voluntary, and had not been taken into account when evaluating job applicants. Nonetheless, "in light of these concerns raised by the ACLU and because this is a newly emerging area in the law, the department has suspended the process of asking for social media information for 45 days to review the procedure and to make sure it is being used consistently and appropriately.""

Submission + - Oracle Says Google Throws Its Users Under The Bus (blogspot.com) 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 09, 2011 @03:38PM

An anonymous reader writes: The heat is on between Oracle and Google in their patent and copyright lawsuit. Oracle's lawyers just told the court that 'Google now wants to throw its licensees and users under the bus' by refusing to be liable for every Android-based device out there. It's also about the burden of proof. Oracle has produced almost 400 pages of claim charts and other material to prove infringements based on the public codebase, but Google wants to see this for individual devices. Groklaw thinks Oracle 'saw the case as a slam dunk, and Google is not cooperating.' FOSS Patents (Florian Mueller) says Google is at the top of a billion-dollar pyramid, is projected to generate mobile advertising income to the tune of $1.3 billion next year thanks to Android, and should 'assume responsibility' and solve the problem 'for the entire ecosystem' because otherwise Oracle might sue device makers, operators, or even app developers or users.

Submission + - IP addresses ‘not enough’ for legal ac (which.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 09, 2011 @08:10AM

An anonymous reader writes: A judgment issued today by Judge Birss in the Patents County Court has derailed the threatening letter-writing activities by legal firms such as ACS:Law in pursuit of illegal file-sharers.

In his judgment, Judge Birss questioned whether IP addresses could be used as sound evidence in identifying someone and accuse them of illegal file-sharing. He reasoned that IP addresses were not enough, citing unsecured home wireless networks and the fact that an IP address doesn’t identify the individual that is alleged to have illegally file-shared.

Slashdot Top Deals