Comment Re:Forcing badware on users ? (Score 1) 128
Parent poster, despite his language, has a point. Real Player vs. Rhapsody is like QuickTime vs. iTunes... only without the dual-installer. The wrong post is being modded down.
Comment "joint advertising campaigns with studios" (Score 2, Insightful) 414
What studios are left...that matter?
Comment John Scalzi on why it won't work (Score 1) 370
John Scalzi wrote a hilarious exchange on his blog the sums up perfectly why this idea is made of fail:
There's much more, but I didn't want to jack his entire post.Sony BMG spokesperson: We're pleased to announce we are the final major music corporation to release electronic tracks without that pesky DRM! All you have to do is leave your house, go to a selected retail outlet, buy a special card there, go back to your house, scratch off the back of the card to find a code, go to our special MusicPass Web site, enter said code, and download one the 37 titles we have available, from Celine Dion to the Backstreet Boys!
Kid #1: Or, in the time it takes me to jump through all those hoops, I could just download all 37 of those albums off of Pirate Bay.
Kid #2: Or, I could just scratch off the back at the store, record the pin number, go home and download the album through a Tor connection, so you can't trace my IP number.
Kid #1: Also, what's with this first slate of artists? Celine Dion? Backstreet Boys? Kenny Chesney? Barry Manilow? Are you high?
Journal Journal: Announcing the release of my new book 22
This feels like a mega-spam entry, and I'm very self conscious about posting it, but I'm excited about this and I wanted to share . .
Submission + - The Google Phone is a Reality.
MrCrassic writes: "It appears that Google is initiating talks with well-known PDA/smartphone manufacturer HTC to make the Google phone a reality. With impressive tech specs and an already impressive concept underway , could Google be the next company to make a mark in the wireless device industry?
From the main article:
However, a recent report by CrunchGear states that its own sources at mobile handset provider HTC have tipped the site off to multiple gPhone handsets being prepped for launch in the first quarter of 2008 and that the handsets will be coming out of Taiwan. There will supposedly be over 20 different handsets to choose from — some with GPS — and they will carry special versions of Google Maps, Google Calendar, Gmail, and VoIP-enabled Google Talk.
Speaking of software, Google is rumored to be developing its own operating system for the gPhone. According to reports by Engadget, the OS has been in development since 2005 after Google's acquisition of a mobile software company called Android. The Android team has since developed a Linux-based mobile OS while at Google — a detail that is corroborated by the CrunchGear report — which of course comes with tight Google integration. Both sites appear to agree that their sources indicate Google isn't currently looking to develop the hardware... for now.
"
Simon Pegg to Play Scotty 233
In response to yesterday's casting news about Chris Pine possibly taking the captain's chair for the new Star Trek movie, apparently Simon Pegg will be playing the role of Scotty. Simon Pegg is known for his role as Shaun in Shaun of the Dead and more recently for his leading role in Hot Fuzz. "Pegg joins Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, John Cho as Sulu and Zachary Quinto as Spock in the film which reportedly, and logically, 'chronicles the early days of the Enterprise crew.' Leonard Nimoy will also put in an appearance, while Eric Bana signed up this week as the movie's villain, Nero."
Journal Journal: Confronting pseudoscience in advertising
The Scientist reports that UK group Sense About Science is confronting advertisers about pseudoscientific claims in health products such as "Aerobic Oxygen," "Salt Lamps," and "Activ8." They called the advertisers' customer service numbers and grilled the unfortunates on the other end of the phone about their misuse of scientific language to sell products. The project,
Submission + - Casino bans author of Word for being lucky
netbuzz writes: "Running a gambling operation, whether you're a casino or government, means more than merely having a license to print money: It means you can be as arbitrary and hypocritical as you please. Feeling the sting of this reality recently is Richard "Quiet Lion" Brodie, best known as the original author of Microsoft Word, who has been banned from all Harrah's casinos for, he says, having the audacity to have gotten lucky at video poker.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1599 1"
Comment Re:Alienware? (Score 1) 29
Actually, Parallels is so good, you can run Linux in a VM, and still have all the yumminess of OS X, though there's a danger that you'll never bother with Linux.
I've had my Macbook Pro for about a year... First Mac ever. I'm not going back.
Submission + - New Orleans levee report blames Army Corps
LazyEmc2 writes: "I am submitting a story I saw at Dr. Jeff Masters' blog at Weather Underground.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comme nt.html?entrynum=639&tstamp=200703
It points to a report released by Louisiana state Department of Transportation and Development.
http://www.publichealth.hurricane.lsu.edu/TeamLA.h tm
"The Army Corps yesterday issued a press release defending themselves, saying that all levels of government were involved in the poor decision making for New Orleans' levees, and the Corps should not be singled out for their failures. Regardless, the release of the Team Louisiana report will bolster the legal efforts to sue the Army Corps for damages from Katrina. These claims are currently at $400 billion and growing, including a claim of $77 billion from the city of New Orleans, and $200 billion from the state of Louisiana."
The Army Corps have fired back:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/natio n/4653257.html
Story about suits filed against them already:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/ base/news-7/117462801734580.xml&coll=1
Sorry for the lack of HTML."
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comm
It points to a report released by Louisiana state Department of Transportation and Development.
http://www.publichealth.hurricane.lsu.edu/TeamLA.
"The Army Corps yesterday issued a press release defending themselves, saying that all levels of government were involved in the poor decision making for New Orleans' levees, and the Corps should not be singled out for their failures. Regardless, the release of the Team Louisiana report will bolster the legal efforts to sue the Army Corps for damages from Katrina. These claims are currently at $400 billion and growing, including a claim of $77 billion from the city of New Orleans, and $200 billion from the state of Louisiana."
The Army Corps have fired back:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nati
Story about suits filed against them already:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?
Sorry for the lack of HTML."
Submission + - LGPL Swfdec project now works with YouTube!
Ur@eus writes: "The swfdec library which is a LGPL licensed
Flash library just announced that code making it
work with YouTube has been checked into their Git repository. So you can now view your YouTube movies with an open source solution! This is the result of six months of intensive hacking by swfdec developer Benjamin Otte and a big step forward for opensource Flash support."
Comment Re:Ways to avoid having to mention a number, polit (Score 2, Funny) 184
A 4 billion dollar perk, eh?
I don't think Exxon needs a new CEO at the moment, but good luck with that app =)
Journal Journal: Vacation over...
...and much sadness ensued.
My home is "The Evil Anti-Vegas."
Details can be found here, with more to be revealed over the next few days.
That is all.
Journal Journal: Oil Industry-sponsored FUD at Slashdot? 12
I am absolutely stunned that Slashdot's editors would give credibility to a completely false story, pushed by a paid industry PR professional. As Rugrat said,
Journal Journal: So, About Dapper . . . 24
For the last year or so, I've been happily using Debian, with a mixture of sources so I was stable, but current, just like nearly everyone who uses Debian.
Then I tried to upgrade or something insane like that, using aptitude, and the whole thing went tits up on me. No amount of cussing, kicking things, or actual tinkering with the software could save my machine.
