Comment Re:This was "swype'd" from Dr Zhai, of IBM, resear (Score 1) 150
Why, oh why, do I never have the mod points when something like is it posted. This needs to be modded up.
Submission + - Chinese court fines User in 'cyber-violence' case (iht.com)
An anonymous reader writes: HONG KONG: In the first case involving cyberviolence and a "human flesh search engine" in China, a court has fined a Web site and an Internet user for posting personal and intimate details about an unfaithful husband, his mistress and a spurned wife who committed suicide.
While the fines in the case were small, legal scholars said the ruling could carry a wider significance as the Chinese government and the Communist Party search for ways to police the Internet. A recent rise in online vigilantism could lead the authorities to issue more dramatic restrictions on Internet users and Web sites...
Submission + - Abit to Close Its Doors Forever on Dec 31, 2008 (xbitlabs.com) 1
ki1obyte writes: Earlier this year, Abit, once leading-edge maker of computer mainboards and other components, was slated to shut down motherboard production by the end of 2008 and focus on consumer electronics devices. X-bit labs reports that Abit will cease to exist entirely starting the first of January, 2009, as the owner of the brand — Universal Scientific Industrial — is in the process of restructuring and cutting down the costs.
Submission + - Lenovo's new ThinkPad: 2 LCD screens, 11 pounds (computerworld.com)
ericatcw writes: With many users now used to having multiple monitors at home or work, you had to figure someone would try to offer a 'desktop replacement' laptop that offered the same. Lenovo is the first. Its new W700ds laptop will offer a 10.6 inch LCD screen in addition to the 17-inch primary one, reports Computerworld. The W700ds also sports a quad-core Intel Core 2 CPU, up to almost 1 TB of storage, and an Nvidia Quadro mobile chip with up to 128 cores. A Lenovo exec called this souped-up version of the normally buttoned-down-for-business ThinkPads the "nitro-burning drag racer of ThinkPads." There is even a Wacom digitizer pad and pen for graphic artists, who are expected to be the target market, along with photographers and other creative types who are willing to trade shoulder-aching bulk (11 pounds) and price (minimum of $3,600) for productivity enhancements.
Submission + - RIAA Claim of Stopping Suits "Months" Ago (blogspot.com) 1
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "According to a report on Wired.com, the RIAA spokesman claimed that the RIAA has not filed any new lawsuits 'for months', and according to the Wall Street Journal report discussed on Slashdot recently the RIAA stopped filing mass lawsuits 'early this fall'. Knowing that the RIAA has a problem with telling the truth, I did a little investigating, and found out that the RIAA had, in fact, commenced a wave of lawsuits just last week. Why would anyone believe anything their spokesperson says? This is an organization that has a tendency to mispeak a lot, if you know what I mean, even when under oath."
Submission + - 130,000 Bank Accounts "stolen". Hungry dri (wiredwings.com)
Moritz Bartl writes: "One of the largest "identity thefts" in German history turned out to be a bizarre christmas story: Account data of 130,000 customers of the Landesbank Berlin (LBB) was delivered to the Frankfurter Rundschau (a German newspaper) on December 10th — allegedly even including PINs.
How did this happen? It was all about Stollen, a traditional German christmas fruitcake.
The courier service charged with delivering this highly sensitive material to the Landesbank Berlin had another delivery to make: A parcel containing German Stollen, addressed to the Frankfurter Rundschau. The two drivers were hungry, so they ate the Stollen. Left with an empty parcel, they somehow came up with the brilliant plan to take one of the six packages meant for the Landesbank and deliver it to the newspaper instead, to cover up the fruitcake theft."
How did this happen? It was all about Stollen, a traditional German christmas fruitcake.
The courier service charged with delivering this highly sensitive material to the Landesbank Berlin had another delivery to make: A parcel containing German Stollen, addressed to the Frankfurter Rundschau. The two drivers were hungry, so they ate the Stollen. Left with an empty parcel, they somehow came up with the brilliant plan to take one of the six packages meant for the Landesbank and deliver it to the newspaper instead, to cover up the fruitcake theft."
Submission + - SPAM: Expert says: A baby can read and write
KOG! writes: Yes your baby can read and write based on an expert research of infant development and research, Pediatrician and a psychologist. All of them signify the same sentiment.
Dr. Robert Titzer research has been published in scientific journals and has captured the interest of educators, researchers, parents, government agencies, and the media worldwide. He says the current practice of starting to teach reading skills in Kindergarten is too late. "A child has only one natural window for language, from 3 months to age 5. The earlier a child is taught to read, the better they will read and the more likely they will enjoy it. I believe this is the key to success throughout their lives."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Watergate 'Deep Throat' Mark Felt Dies at 95
Hugh Pickens writes: "W. Mark Felt Sr., 95, associate director of the FBI during the Watergate scandal, better known as "Deep Throat," the most famous anonymous source in American history, died today at his home in Santa Rosa, California. Felt secretly guided Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein pursue the story of the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate office buildings and later revelations of the Nixon administration's campaign of spying and sabotage against its perceived political enemies. "It's impossible to exaggerate how high the stakes were in Watergate," wrote Felt in his 2006 book "A G-Man's Life." "We faced no simple burglary, but an assault on government institutions, an attack on the FBI's integrity, and unrelenting pressure to unravel one of the greatest political scandals in our nation's history." No one knows exactly what prompted Felt to leak the information from the Watergate probe to the press. He was passed over for the post of FBI director after Hoover's 1972 death, a crushing career disappointment. "People will debate for a long time whether I did the right thing by helping Woodward. The bottom line is that we did get the whole truth out, and isn't that what the FBI is supposed to do?""
Submission + - Dinosaurs: A Bunch of Mister Moms (scienceblogs.com)
grrlscientist writes: "Oviraptors ("egg seizer") were given their name because their fossil remains were first discovered on top of a pile of eggs. Because of their close proximity to clutches of dinosaur eggs, it was initially assumed that these dinosaurs were eating them. However, in his 1924 paper, their discoverer Henry Fairfield Osborn presciently cautioned the scientific community by writing that the name Oviraptor "may entirely mislead us as to its feeding habits and belie its character." And in fact, this is the case because newly published research indicates these dinosaurs were incubating these eggs, rather than eating them. Further, it is probable that it was the father who was caring for the eggs and young, instead of the mother."
Submission + - Samsung Notebooks Finally Arrive in the US
An anonymous reader writes: Samsung has been making notebook computers for a long time, but up until October 2008 they were not available in the US. This probably had more than a few people in the US thinking that Samsung didn't make notebooks (aside from their UMPC that is), but that's all changed now that the electronics giant is entering the market with five different notebooks and their NC10 netbook. In this review we'll be looking at the Q310, a 13.3-inch thin-and-light notebook that, at $1250, should be one of Samsung's most popular models.
Submission + - Yahoo promises to anonymize and limit user data (wsj.com)
quarterbuck writes: "While Google is saying that personalization is the key to search, Yahoo is taking a different view of the topic. Yahoo announced plans to retain user data for no longer than 90 days and to anonymize data. Even if Yahoo is not your favorite search engine, it is a good move in the direction of online privacy if it will force others to follow suit."
Submission + - about:rights - Firefox Kills The EULA (mozilla.com)
No_Weak_Heart writes: ""Just a reminder that with the release today of Firefox 3.0.5, we're no longer displaying a EULA on install, and the Mac DMG files will not display the EULA on mounting. (yay!) Instead, we'll be displaying an infobar that makes people aware of the about:rights text, which outlines how Firefox is licensed, the first time Firefox 3.0.5 (and later) is run.""
Submission + - Australia uses Facebook to track debtors (yahoo.com)
a302b writes: A Canberra lawyer has been permitted to serve legal documents via Facebook for a couple that defaulted on some loans. He claims he needed to do this because he was unable to track them down to a physical address. At what point does our online presence become "real"? And what opportunities are available for fraud, if social networking sites are considered legal representations of ourselves, even when they can be anonymously created under any name?
Recording Music Without the Recording Industry 234
hephaist0s writes "The 2008 RPM Challenge — to write and record an original album in February, just because you can — is about to begin. Hundreds of musicians from around the world have already signed up. Last year, more than 850 albums were recorded as part of the challenge, a testament to what can be done by independent musicians without a label, without the RIAA, and often without a professional studio. The efforts ranged from an album made entirely on a Nintendo Game Boy to a Speed Racer rock opera, produced by both experienced bands and novice musicians, often in continent-spanning online collaborations. Last year's challenge generated one of the largest free jukeboxes of original music available online, built to stream on-demand all 8500-plus original, artist-owned songs. Imagine if grassroots, independent systems like this foretold the future of recorded music and its distribution."
Court Says You Can Copyright a Cease-And-Desist Letter 349
TechDirt has a follow up to a case they covered back in October where a law firm was trying to claim a copyright on the cease-and-desist letters they sent out. Public Citizen poked a number of holes in this claim and invited the lawyers to "try it." Well, unfortunately the lawyers decided to bite and what's more, they actually got a judge to buy it. The news was announced by the victorious lawyer who now claims he can sue anytime someone posts one of his cease-and-desist letters. "The copyrighting of cease-and-desist letters is an easy way for law firms to bully small companies who have committed no wrong, but who have no real recourse to fight back against an attempt to shut them up via legal threat. Until today, many companies who were being unfairly attacked by companies and law firms misusing cease-and-desist letters to prevent opinions from being stated, had a reasonable recourse to such attacks, and could draw attention to law firms that used such bullying tactics to mute any criticism."
