colonslashslash - Slashdot User

Submission + - Should I be forced to close source my software?

Submitted by

masonisdrunk

on Monday February 05, 2007 @05:25PM

masonisdrunk writes: "Having recently started a company providing Wireless Internet access, it was time for a cash injection and having found a investor he now wants me to close source my software (which I was just developing a homepage for) and sign a non-competiton agreement. Do I have a leg to stand on with this? I need the money to further the project, but also believe in the open source community and how that can help further develop the software bwyond what i could ever do.

Do slash dotters have any useful suggestions? or I'm i best to keep my mouth closed and do what i'm told.

Thanks in advance"

Submission + - Blu-ray/HD DVD Disc Sales Data (Finally) Revealed

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01, 2007 @02:38PM

An anonymous reader writes: The High-Def format wars finally have yardstick against which to measure who's winning with the first public release of VideoScan sales figures for both HD DVD and Blu-ray. The first two weeks worth of data seem to back up what many predicted — that the Blu-ray enabled PS3 is helping Sony quickly close the gap with HD DVD, with almost three Blu-ray discs sold for every one HD DVD during the first week of January. HD DVD still leads in overall discs sold since inception, but that lead looks to be quickly dwindling...

Submission + - Best piracy money can buy

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01, 2007 @02:36PM

An anonymous reader writes: Almost as follow-up on a discussion here on Slashdot, regarding the help Microsoft got from piracy in establishing its worldwide domination, comes this message from Romania's president, Traian Basescu, as reported in the Washington Post: "Piracy helped the young generation discover computers. It set off the development of the IT industry in Romania." What makes this even more interesting (and ironic) is that these words of wisdom were uttered during a joint press conference with Bill Gates (there to promote a few things, Vista, Office 07 and a spanking new support center); moreover, Mr. Basescu was for much of his life a ship captain, so, it is to be assumed he knows good piracy when he sees it. According to the Post "Gates made no comment."

Submission + - Microsoft wanted to hide behind "Get the Facts

Submitted by Hawaiian Rules on Thursday February 01, 2007 @02:20PM

Hawaiian Rules writes: InformationWeek has a blub on how Kevin Johnson — the man who now leads Microsoft's Windows — wanted to hide Microsoft's name from a TCO report that it commissioned for its controversial "Get the Facts" campaign.

From the story: "I don't like it to be public on the doc that we sponsored it because I don't think the outcome is as favorable as we had hoped. I just don't like competitors using it as ammo against us. It is easier if it doesn't mention that we sponsored it."

Submission + - BBC considers catering for Microsoft users only

Submitted by pthompson on Thursday February 01, 2007 @10:30AM

pthompson writes: In a public consultation at [1] the BBC is asking for views on whether its on-demand services should be made available only to those who use Microsoft software (Question 5). I'm sure the Slashdot community won't be shy in giving their opinion of that idea...

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consult/open-consult ations/ondemand_services.html

Submission + - Virgin's new linux based flight entertainment

Submitted by

Udi Falkson

on Sunday January 21, 2007 @09:28PM

Udi Falkson writes: "Red, the Virgin America In-Flight Entertainment system will provide:

9 inch integrated touch screens at every seat

Full QWERTY keyboard/game controller to interact with all applications

Live TV provided by Dish Network

The world's only In Flight Program guide (IPG) for live television

Over 25 Hollywood Pay-per-view movies available completely on-demand

Email/SMS/instant messaging/chat rooms, providing an airborne social network

An audio experience with over 3,000 mp3 tracks — allowing guests to customize their playlists — as well as 20 radio channels.

Open source video games (and a future invitation for savvy linux game developers to participate in Red)

All aircraft are equipped with wireless access points and are broadband-ready

Ability to order food when you want it directly from your seat, and pay by credit card

They have a quicktime video and more information and you can see the same video with flash on Youtube."

Journal Journal: MADD backs police in DUI non-arrest of Atkins 5

Journal by Le Marteau on Thursday January 18, 2007 @02:29AM

So here is a case of a state legislator, who blew a .14, flashed his ID, and was thus not arrested for DUI. The Mothers Against Drunk Drivers think that's just fine, and in fact publicly support letting a .14 blower off with no consequences whatsoever.

MADD backs police in DUI non-arrest of Atkins

Submission + - Blu-ray Refutes Claims of Porn Ban...

Submitted by

thefoxtrot

on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @12:58AM

thefoxtrot writes: " The Blu-ray Disc Association is speaking out against charges that the org is shunning adult video distributors from releasing content on Blu-ray. "The BDA welcomes the participation of all companies interested in using and supporting the format, particularly those from the content industry," said the BDA's Gordon. "We look forward to working with any content providers interested in providing their audience with [the] best possible high definition home entertainment experience." Analysts say that the pornography industry, which generates an estimated $57 billion in annual revenue worldwide, could play an influential role in increasing high-def adaption rates and — especially if forced to choose sides — could help determine an ultimate victor in the high-def format wars."

Submission + - Walmart Prevents Shopping With Firefox

Submitted by

mattfite

on Sunday January 14, 2007 @08:58PM

mattfite writes: "I haven't yet seen this on /., but while looking for an artist's recording, I went to Walmart to try out the $0.88/song download. The link informs me that "We notice you're not using Internet Explorer. To continue, please visit this page using Internet Explorer 6.0 or later." Others have noticed this, too."

Apple/NVidia Driver Bug — Question Deleted 703

Posted by kdawson on Sunday January 14, 2007 @08:50PM from the sup-with-that? dept.

Joe Drago writes "I purchased a Mac Pro within the first week that they were available, and immediately upgraded to 3GB of RAM (knowing that OSX loves memory). When playing 3D games (World of Warcraft mainly), the game would Kernel Panic the machine if I had played it for a few hours, or if I swapped in and out of the game a few times, etc. I eventually found out (from an official Blizzard poster) that NVidia has a bug in their drivers that kernel panics a Mac Pro if any memory past the 2GB boundary is addressed in the driver. After waiting months for a resolution to this, I decided to post on Apple's support site. Here is an image of my post.. Within a few hours, they removed it from the site, placing it under 'Posts Removed by Administration.' What's going on here? Is Apple trying to hide this bug, or is there something more serious going on between Apple and NVidia?"

Submission + - CES video coverage in HD

Submitted by

Charbax

on Sunday January 14, 2007 @06:18PM

Charbax writes: "You didn't get to go to CES in Las Vegas this time? Then you can watch hours of coverage in HD. All the coolest gadgets are there. Including 4 extensive videos of the OLPC, demonstrated running the Pepper Linux OS implementation of Fedora Core (this is not the Sugar interface), interviews, UMPCs, Cowon's Wi-Fi connected PMP, vaccum-cleaning and mopping Robots and more."

Submission + - Big brother tracking (and taxing) on UK roads

Submitted by Thanster on Sunday January 14, 2007 @06:09PM

Thanster writes: The British government is working on plans to introduce pay per mile with GPS trackers in your car, this has massive big brother implications. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6160877.stm The government's proposal to introduce road pricing will mean you having to purchase a tracking device for your car and paying a monthly bill to use it. The tracking device will cost about £200 and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver. A non working Mum who used the car to take the kids to school paid £86 in one month. On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked. Somebody will know where you are at all times. They will also know how fast you have been going, so even if you accidentally creep over a speed limit you can expect a For any concerned UK slashdotters, a petition has been raised here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/

Submission + - Jobs Thinks Open iPhone Could Hurt Cingular?

Submitted by bmore on Sunday January 14, 2007 @05:48PM

bmore writes: MSNBC's Steven Levy heard some interesting comments when he recived the privlage of interviewing Steve Jobs after the release of the iPhone. While talking about the iPhone's lack of support for third party developers, Jobs said "You don't want your phone to be an open platform", meaning that anyone can write applications for it and potentially gum up the provider's network, says Jobs. "You need it to work when you need it to work. Cingular doesn't want to see their West Coast network go down because some application messed up." This comment is confusing because he does not explain how several phones running Windows and PalmOS operate very well on Cingular's networks.

Submission + - Alan Cox files patent for DRM

Submitted by

booooh

on Sunday January 14, 2007 @05:08PM

booooh writes: "Alan Cox has filed a patent for DRM (Digital Rights Management).
http://www.freshpatents.com/Rights-management-syst em-dt20050623ptan20050138406.php

A rights management system monitors and controls use of a computer program to prevent use that is not in compliance with acceptable terms.

The nice things about this are:

According to Red Hat's patent pledge they will not license this technology if the patent is granted, but rather will probably sue to avoid others using it.

It can probably be applied to the DRM that is in Vista...

see more details at: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread .php?p=2574359"

Submission + - Where to donate old hardware?

Submitted by on Sunday January 14, 2007 @04:59PM

An anonymous reader writes: Like many Slashdotters, I have a surplus of old computers and parts that I (and family and friends) no longer have use for. Some of this junk is still useful, and although I'm too busy to sell it piecemeal on eBay, it'd be a shame to just throw it away. I'd prefer to just drop this stuff off, driver disks and instruction manuals included where applicable, at a major charity such as Good Will, AmVets, or the Salvation Army, but I suspect that they wouldn't be able to move it and would end up throwing it away. Anyone have any recommendations for the major charities or any suggestions for recycling options?

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