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Google

Submission + - Is Google's Pay-Per-Action Blogger-Unfriendly?

Submitted by Lisa Andrews
Lisa Andrews writes: Yesterday, Google announced the launch of their new (beta, of course) Pay-Per-Action advertising model, claiming it would be the new good thing for everybody. However, some arguments have been raised as to whether webmasters gain or lose in this matter, and it seems that this new advertising model may favor advertiser's and Google a lot more than the bloggers, webmasters, and co.
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - Dungons & Dragons & IT - Why we crave boun

Submitted by
boyko.at.netqos
boyko.at.netqos writes: "An editorial in Network Performance Daily tries to take a (1d6) stab at explaining why geeky engineering types are also typically the types that enjoy a rousing game of D&D. "The greatest barrier to creativity is a lack of boundaries. Counter-intuitive — almost zen-like — but we've found it to be true. And this is why people play Dungeons & Dragons (and similar games), and why network engineers often spend time putting out fires when they could be improving the network... Have you ever noticed that, in your job as a network engineer, you spend quite a lot of it putting out fires, as opposed to starting new initiatives? Those network emergencies are obstacles. You have defined parameters and you must overcome the obstacle. Engineers trained to find the best solutions to problems usually feel most in their element when solving a problem!"
Editorial

Submission + - Can the U.S. Army defeat the Blackwater Army?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Even though this is a hypothetical question, what if the Blackwater private army's purpose is to make sure the U.S. Army will keep fighting in Iraq/Iran and no military opposition can arise against the Bush Administration? I doubt these will be true, but who would win if these two armies fight each other? Should the U.S. even have a private army?
United States

Journal Journal: Hurting whales more important than national security

Journal by slayermet420
In the newest slap to the face of the environmentalists, the US Navy has decided to not release where sonar has been used through out the world over the past four years. Why is this an issue? Because the National Resources Defense Council has come to the idea of suing the US Navy to "ensure sailors use sonar in a way that does not harm whales and other marine mammals." The claim is that s
Businesses

Submission + - DRM will cost over $9 billion the 5 coming years

Submitted by
DRM coward
DRM coward writes: "According to a recent report, companies will spend over 9 billion dollars on DRM technology, hardware and software, over the 5 coming years. At the end of 2007 over 1 billion dollars will have been spent on trying to prevent copyrighted material from spreading without control. The study, which was published by Insight Research, states that the industry is not moving to a more userfriendly nature, but actually on the contrary. More and more, companies will be working on creating tougher and tougher protections with less and less care for the end-users."

Feed U.S. Balks at Climate Talks (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed
All delegates agree on the critical need to cut emissions, but the United States still worries about its economy and the contributions from developing countries. By the Associated Press.


The Internet

Submission + - The state of web annotation

Submitted by
joeljkp
joeljkp writes: "The promise of web annotation systems is great: the ability to comment on specific content of any website, to correct errors and misconceptions, and to provide background information for future readers. It seems that this promise has not been fulfilled, but not for lack of trying. Notwithstanding systems like Stet, which work for local content only, there have been attempts ranging from Annozilla, a Firefox extension that works with the W3C's Annotea spec, to "Web 2.0" offerings such as Diigo and Fleck. Why haven't any of these systems caught on, and is there any hope in sight? If the community picks one, can we boost it to success?"
Security

Submission + - XBox live accounts being stolen?

Submitted by OriginalArlen
OriginalArlen writes: Kevin Finisterre, a well-known security researcher, reports rumours that XBox Live online accounts have been compromised through an attack against Bungie. When he called XBox Live tech support, he was told: "Hackers have control of Xbox live and there is nothing we can do about it" — a definite contender for "Microsoft Quote of the Year", although sadly that's the modern meaning of 'hacker'. The "Microsoft Points" mentioned in the post apparently have a real dollar value.
Music

Submission + - Open Source model applied to sheet music?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: As an amateur composer and pianist, I frequently see music that I would like to change or rewrite as a personal interpretation of the writer's intent. Although I love to make modifications and change the way a piece is written, it is obviously impossible for me to claim any such a hybrid as my own work, nor as the original author's. Perhaps could a model similar to the open source software movement's be used to collaboratively create music among an array of composers, each adding their own personal thoughts? Admittedly, it would be difficult for many composers to agree on what sounds best, but I imagine similar difficulties are involved in creating open source software. I would love to see composers making music under the GPL, so that many others could do this, but I am not sure if such a model would work.
Patents

Submission + - Linked List Patented in 2006

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Congratulations are in order to Ming-Jen Wang of LSI Logic Corporation who, in patent #10260471 managed to invent the linked list. From the abstract, "A computerized list is provided with auxiliary pointers for traversing the list in different sequences. One or more auxiliary pointers enable a fast, sequential traversal of the list with a minimum of computational time. Such lists may be used in any application where lists may be reordered for various purposes." Good-bye doubly linked list. We should also give praise to the extensive patent review performed by Cochran Freund & Young LLP.
Censorship

Submission + - Bulgaria Blocks BitTorrent Site, Citizens Protest

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Bulgarian Interior Ministry has ordered all ISP's to block access to Arenabg.com, Bulgaria's largest BitTorrent site. Bulgarian citizens are not pleased with this course of action and intend to make a public protest on March 22nd in support of torrent site administrators who they believe are being unfairly treated.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Amazon Unbox Reviewed On Linux

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Patrick McFarland, the Free Software Magazine author, has written a review of Amazon's new DRM-ridden Unbox software (attempting to) run on Linux, and how it compares against the original DVDs. He also discusses the consequences of Amazon using Microsoft's PlayForSure DRM, including how even Zunes can't play Unboxed videos, let alone Macs or Video iPods. Was Amazon paid off by Microsoft to use PlayForSure DRM just to fight against Apple's iTunes Movie Store?

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