NG Resonance - Slashdot User

Submission + - Electronic-Voting Reform bill out of committee.

Submitted by Irvu on Wednesday May 16, 2007 @04:36PM

Irvu writes: HR 811 the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007 has been reported out of committee and sent to the floor of the U.S. House for (possible) amendments and a vote. An accurate FUD free summary of the bill's present form can be found here. If, after reading this you support it (and are a U.S. Citizen) then I would urge you to contact your congressional rep. If they are a cosponsor then thank them and urge them to show up to vote for it (unfortunately some do not). If not then urge them to become a cosponsor and show up to vote.

Submission + - NZ Police want to digitally fingerprint drivers

Submitted by Zinoc on Monday May 14, 2007 @11:07PM

Zinoc writes: Police have used hand held computers to fingerprint volunteers on the streets of New Zealand but say they would need a law change before making this part of everyday policing.

Link to the article below: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4058842a28.html

Submission + - Pandora Access to be Blocked from Canada

Submitted by

PoprocksCk

on Monday May 14, 2007 @10:56PM

PoprocksCk writes: "Pandora, the popular streaming Internet Radio service, will no longer be available to Canadians starting May 16th, due to copyright issues. They state, in an email that was sent to all Canadian listeners, "We began blocking access from almost all countries outside the U.S. last week and had originally hoped to maintain access to Canada. However, it has become clear in the last week that we just haven't been able to make enough progress to continue streaming."

The underlying issue is that in the U.S. there is a federal statute that provides this license for all the music streamed on Pandora, but there is no equivalent license outside the U.S.

Soon-to-be-former Canadian Pandora listeners may want to check out the Pandora blog for updates and for more information as it comes."

Submission + - Toyota going 100% hybrid by 2020

Submitted by

autofan1

on Monday May 14, 2007 @09:08PM

autofan1 writes: "http://www.motorauthority.com/cars/toyota/toyota-c utting-hybrid-costs/ Toyota's vice president in charge of powertrain development, Masatami Takimoto, has said cost cutting on the electric motor, battery and inverter were all showing positive results in reducing the costs of hybrid technology and by the time Toyota's sales goal of one million hybrids annually is reached, it "expect margins to be equal to gasoline cars". Takimoto also made the bold claim that by 2020, hybrids will be the standard drivetrain and account for "100 percent" of Toyota's cars as they would be no more expensive to produce than a conventional vehicle."

Submission + - RealID May Still Be Stopped

Submitted by

MagusSlurpy

on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @12:52PM

MagusSlurpy writes: "The EFF, amongst others, is alerting readers to the fact that the Real ID Act, snuck through Congress in 2005, may still be stopped. The Department of Homeland Security is accepting comments (keyword DHS-2006-0030) through 5 p.m. EST today, May 8th, on the Act, and with both growing grassroots and Congressional opposition, the Act could be stopped. Let the DHS know how you feel about Real ID!"

Submission + - Movie Screenings Cancelled in Canada

Submitted by David on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @12:47PM

David writes: Promotional screenings of Warner Brothers' movies have been pulled in Canada in an attempt to combat "rampant" piracy. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6634173.s tm

Submission + - The World's Complicity in Somalia

Submitted by

kingsindian1

on Monday May 07, 2007 @08:35PM

kingsindian1 writes: "Democracy Now! is reporting on the growing humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia.
"The UN says that more than 350,000 people have been displaced in Somalia in the past three months, more than anywhere else in the world."
"The escalating war in Somalia has received little attention in the U.S. media especially on broadcast television. Using the Lexis database, Democracy Now examined ABC, NBC and CBS's coverage of Somalia in the evening newscasts over the past three months. The result may surprise you: ABC and NBC has not mentioned the war at all. CBS mentioned the war once. The network dedicated a total of three sentences to the story.""

Submission + - Your kids will kill us all, with CO2 emissions

Submitted by

Powdered Milkman

on Monday May 07, 2007 @06:14PM

Powdered Milkman writes: "According to the Optimum Population Trust, a green think tank, large families are killing the planet. The article says 'The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights.' and that as a general guideline most families should limit themselves to 2 kids.

Can this type of report ever receive the consideration it deserves? Or is it more environmental conviction than any person is willing to muster?"

Submission + - A good mobile phone with no camera?

Submitted by SuperG on Monday May 07, 2007 @05:07PM

SuperG writes: It seems like every mobile phone out there has a camera on it these days. The only ones without cameras are low-end models with poor battery life, poor reception, and minimal features. And low-end means the cool factor is nonexistent as well. I often visit facilities where phones with cameras are not allowed, so I end up being incommunicado with my current camera phone. Is there a good (in terms of battery life, call quality, build quality, and style points) phone without a camera out there in the US market?

Submission + - Myspace eliminates "Gay" option

Submitted by

ishboo

on Monday May 07, 2007 @04:58PM

ishboo writes: "Just recently myspace abolished the option to select "Gay" as a sexual preference in your profile while still leaving bi and lesbian. This comes form chairman of News Corps. (Myspace's parent company) Rupert Murdoch who made this choice based on "Personal Family Values" who has a history of being accused of being homophobic. http://rawstory.com/news/2007/MySpace_deletes_abil ity_of_users_to_0503.html"

Submission + - Wikipedia admins go on rampage

Submitted by joeszilagyi on Monday May 07, 2007 @04:17PM

joeszilagyi writes: After their passwords got cracked: At least four different Wikipedia administrators have had their weak passwords taken in the past 24 hours. They deleted the home page repeatedly, and one person even put Tubgirl on the "Site notice", which is a global header for all of en.wikipedia.org. How did it happen? Weak logon security measures — there is no CAPTCHA; crappy passwords, and on top of that, while there is an encrypted SSL logon page, it's hard to find. The scariest thing is that people with passwords of "password" are entrusted as sysops and administrators on one of the Top 10 websites on Earth. They even blocked Jimbo Wales repeatedly from his own website!

Submission + - Mike Gravel: "I would legalize marijuana."

Submitted by had3l on Friday May 04, 2007 @12:03AM

had3l writes: In an interview on C-SPAN, democratic candidate Mike Gravel stated that he would change the drug policy and legalize marijuana: "Marijuana is a simple one, we legalize it, and you should be able to buy it at a liquor store, just like you buy alcohol". Other candidates have stood up against the present "War on Drugs", but he is the first one to mention legalization.

Submission + - National ID card "a disaster in the making"

Submitted by

jdp

on Thursday May 03, 2007 @11:41PM

jdp writes: "Security experts Richard Forno and Bruce Schneier's CNET column describes Real ID as a disaster in the making, highlighting issues including vulnerability to identity theft from unscrupulous employees, flawed technologies, external compromises or human error; the risks of mission creep ("other homeland security initiatives, such as the Patriot Act, have been used and applied — some say abused — for purposes far removed from anything related to homeland security. How can we ensure the same will not happen with Real ID?"), and the important point about how Real ID makes the people who aren't eligible for it — or live in states that have rejected it into second-class citizens. Several of these points were also brought up at Tuesday's Town Hall meeting and webcast, as well as other concerns from DMV directors and employees, transgender people, seniors, and representatives from Gun Owners of America, American Friends Service Comittee, California Commision on the Status of Women, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, CDT, and EFF. A coalition of privacy, civil liberties, and consumer groups have launched a campaign to encourage public comments to DHS before the May 8 deadline. One thing to say for Real ID: it's certanly a unifying issue — at least for the opposition."

Submission + - AT&T Yahoo to spam users once again

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 03, 2007 @11:29PM

An anonymous reader writes: AT&T Yahoo, having captured and swallowed Pacbell, SBCGlobal, and dozens of other formerly independant ISPs and mail services, announced today after close of business that it will be introducing graphical advertisements in its user's emails. No distinction is made between paid users and free account users, nor between POP/SMTP users vs webmail users. The user agreement and Terms of Service in force with Pacbell and SBCGlobal customers contains language prohibiting theft of bandwidth, and unsolicited commercial email(UCE).

Thu May 03 20:07:49 2007 Notice: AT&T Yahoo! Terms of Service Change
Dear AT&T Yahoo! Member:

AT&T and Yahoo! have a history of providing our members with award-winning, industry-leading Internet products and services at a great value.

As more members are using AT&T Yahoo! Mail to send and receive photos, videos, and music, we will begin offering unlimited email storage in May to both existing and new members. Your service will continue to include all the premium products you already enjoy including video, LAUNCHcast Plus, and an all-in-one security suite.

Additionally, within the next few weeks you will begin seeing graphical advertisements in your AT&T Yahoo! Mail service. These advertisements will be integrated into the AT&T Yahoo! Mail experience, and we hope you will find the advertisements useful. Advertising such as this allows us to continue delivering new and innovative elements to our service and helps us keep prices competitive, while we continue to provide the high level of service that you have come to know and trust.

We strive to provide you with the best online experience possible and to address all your needs on the Internet.

Sincerely,

AT&T Yahoo! Member Services

Please do not reply to this message. This is a service email related to your use of AT&T Yahoo!. To learn more about Yahoo!'s or AT&T's use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read each Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. AT&T Internet Services is located at 6500 River Place Boulevard, Building III, Austin, TX 78730-1111. RefID: lp-11389916

Submission + - Creative to charge for EAX via Audigy on Vista

Submitted by

Shemmie

on Thursday May 03, 2007 @10:22PM

Shemmie writes: "Creative Labs, after months of silence, have come out and stated they will extend ALchemy support to Audigy soundcard users — for a price.

Microsoft removed hardware DirectSound in Vista, leaving only a software emulation — and so ALchemy is used as a method of converting calls to the DirectSound API used by games into OpenAL calls — re-enabling EAX sound in games.

Creative have finally agreed to support Audigy users using Vista as a games-machine — as long as they are willing to pay for the "low-cost upgrade" to re-enable previously free features."

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