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Comment Re:I guess I should prepare for extinction then (Score 2, Interesting) 422

by Tillmann (#28637441) Attached to: Standalone GPS Receivers Going the Way of the Dodo

Hi,

on the motorcycle I usually put the smartphone in the tank bag, which is waterproof. Even through this bag the display can be read alright in direct sunlight. I'm not saying it's the perfect solution, but it does the job - I've ridden hundreds of kilometers through Europe that way, and it works fine (Nokia N82 with Route66 mobile).
Certainly a dedicated motorcycle unit like the TomTom Rider or similar unit might be somewhat better, but for me it's really not worth the extra cost.

All the best,
Tillmann

Comment Re:Main blocker (Score 1) 427

by Tillmann (#28400305) Attached to: State of Sound Development On Linux Not So Sorry After All

Hi,

the problem is related compiz, in combination with nvidia drivers. Uninstalling compiz and (for example) metacity instead will solve the problem.

I'm pretty annoyed myself that the problem apparently STILL hasn't been solved after so many months. compiz sure isn't necessary, but it's nice to have.

All the best,
Till
Databases

Has MySQL Forked Beyond Repair? 334

Posted by timothy from the seems-like-a-hard-case-to-make dept.
snydeq writes "Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister questions the effect recent developments in the MySQL community will have on MySQL's future in the wake of Oracle's acquisition of Sun. Even before Oracle announced its buyout, there were signs of strain within the MySQL community, with key MySQL employees exiting and forks of the MySQL codebase arising, including Widenius' MariaDB. Now Widenius' Oracle-less Open Database Alliance adds further doubt as to which branch of MySQL will be considered 'official' going forward. 'Forks are a fact of life in the open source community, and arguably an entirely healthy one,' McAllister writes. 'Oracle just better hope it doesn't end up on the wrong side of the fork.' To do so, he suggests Oracle will have to regain the the trust and support of the MySQL community — in other words, 'stop acting like Oracle.'"
Privacy

Linked In Or Out? 474

Posted by timothy from the won't-you-be-my-neighbor-today dept.
Mr_Whoopass writes "I am the IT Administrator for a regional restaurant chain, and as of late I am noticing more and more people sending me invitations to sites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc. Mother always taught me to be a skeptic, and, knowing more than the average Joe about how information can be used in this digital era, I am reticent to say the least about posting such personal details as my full name and where I work on the net for all to see. I have thus far managed to stay completely below the radar, and a search on Google has nothing on my real persona. However, now times are tough, and I see sales dropping in the industry I work in as it is a discretionary spending market to be sure. I wonder if I should loosen up on the paranoia a bit and start networking with some of these folks in case of the all too common layoff scenario that seems to be happening lately. What do other folks here think about this? I am specifically interested in what people who work in IT think (since I know that just about every moron who has 'Vice President' or sits on the 'Executive Team' is already on LinkedIn and has no clue about why they should be trying to protect their identity)."
Image

South Carolina Seeking To Outlaw Profanity Screenshot-sm 849

Posted by samzenpus from the f@#k-those-f@#king-f@#kers dept.
MBGMorden writes "It looks like in an act that defies common sense, a bill has been introduced in the South Carolina State Senate that seeks to outlaw the use of profanity. According to the bill it would become a felony (punishable by a fine up to $5000 or up to 5 years in prison) to 'publish orally or in writing, exhibit, or otherwise make available material containing words, language, or actions of a profane, vulgar, lewd, lascivious, or indecent nature.' I'm not sure if 'in writing' could be applied to the internet, but in any event this is scary stuff."
Handhelds

Here Comes iPhone Nano, But Not In the US 177

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the rampant-speculation dept.
jehovajerieh writes to us in the time-honored tradition of rampant Apple speculation, pointing to an article over on IBTimes suggesting that while the iPhone Nano may be on the way, the US might not be the first to experience this gadget bliss. "Despite limited information in the supplier channels and typical secrecy with new Apple products, insiders have confirmed that the iPhone nano is not yet in the testing labs at AT&T, Marshal says, leading him to believe that the launch will most likely be with a non-US carrier. 'Obviously, the best-case scenario here would be a China launch (~600mil+ wireless subscribers total in the country), but we have no definitive knowledge of this and are working on identifying the [locale] of launch and other pertinent details,' he said."

Comment Example for XML-based protocol message (Score 1) 146

by Tillmann (#25484063) Attached to: Honda Makes Motorcycle Talk To Oncoming Cars
<XML>
<OncomingMotorcycle>FirebladeCBR1000RR</OncomingMotorcycle>
<CurrentSpeedKmh>287</CurrentSpeedKmh>
<MatchGPSWithMaps>
    <RoadAnalysis result="SpeedTooHighForComingCurve">
        <ExpectedOutcome>FrontalCrash</ExpectedOutcome>
        <RecommendedAction>DeployAirbags</RecommendedAction>
    </RoadAnalysis>
</MatchGPSWithMaps>
<RequestViaGSM ambulance="false" hearse="true"/>
</XML>
Google

Google's Chrome Declining In Popularity 489

Posted by CmdrTaco from the still-no-mac-version dept.
holy_calamity writes "After launching in a blaze of publicity that even warmed Slashdot, Google's browser grabbed a 3% share of the market, but has been slipping ever since, and now accounts for 1.5%. Google has also stopped promoting the browser on its search page. Assuming they wanted it to grab a significant share of the browser market, have they dropped the ball, or is this part of the plan?" On Slashdot, Chrome is still the #4 browser (after FF, IE, and Safari) but it was ahead of Safari for a few days, hitting almost 10% of our traffic.
The Internet

LHC Flips On Tomorrow 526

Posted by Soulskill from the nice-knowing-you-all dept.
BTJunkie writes "The Large Hadron Collider, the worlds most expensive science experiment, is set to be turned on tomorrow. We've discussed this multiple times already. A small group of people believe our world will be sucked into extinction (some have even sent death threats). The majority of us, however, won't be losing any sleep tonight." Reader WillRobinson notes that CERN researchers declared the final synchronization test a success and says, "The first attempt to circulate a beam in the LHC will be made this Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the injection energy of 450 GeV (0.45 TeV). The start up time will be between (9:00 to 18:00 Zurich Time) (2:00 to 10:00 CDT) with live webcasts provided at webcast.cern.ch."
Linux

Why Is Adobe Flash On Linux Still Broken? 963

Posted by kdawson from the where-there's-a-will dept.
mwilliamson writes "As I sit reading my morning paper online I still cannot view the embedded videos due to auto-detection of my Flash player not working. One in every three or four YouTube videos crashes the browser. I remember sometime back reading that Adobe has a very small development team (possibly only one) working on the Linux port of Flash. It has occurred to me that Flash on Linux is the one major entry barrier controlling acceptance of Linux as a viable desktop operating system. No matter how stably, smoothly, efficiently, and correctly Linux runs on a machine, the public will continue to view it as second-rate if Flash keeps crashing. This is the worst example of being tied down and bound by a crappy 3rd-party product over which no Linux distribution has any control. GNASH is nice, but it just isn't there 100%. I really do have to suspect Adobe's motivation for keeping Flash on Linux in such a deplorable state."
Medicine

Antidepressants Work No Better Than a Placebo 674

Posted by kdawson from the sugar-pills-are-cheaper dept.
Matthew Whalley writes "Researchers got hold of published and unpublished data from drug companies regarding the effectiveness of the most common antidepressant drugs. Previously, when meta-analyses have been conducted on only the published data, the drugs were shown to have a clinically significant effect. However, when the unpublished data is taken into account the difference between the effects of drug and placebo becomes clinically meaningless — just a 1 or 2 point difference on a 30-point depression rating scale — except for the most severely depressed patients. Doctors do not recommend that patients come off antidepressant drugs without support, but this study is likely to lead to a rethink regarding how the drugs are licensed and prescribed."
Google

Asian Nations Battle for Google Data Center 130

Posted by samzenpus from the most-popular-girl-in-school dept.
1sockchuck writes "Google is pitting foreign governments against one another in a battle for a major new data center in Asia. In the past week, both the prime minister of Malaysia and economic minister of Taiwan have said their countries are leading candidates for the Google project, with Japan, South Korea, India and Vietnam also mentioned as contenders in an 18-nation site selection process. Google typically invests $600 million in each new data center. Tech companies often use multi-site searches as a tool to coax incentives out of local governments, which sweeten their offers to outbid rivals from other regions. Google's Asian initiative appears to be taking this strategy to a new level, coaxing heads of state to invest political capital in their lust for one of Google's mega-datacenters."
Biotech

Scientists Discover Way To Reverse Memory Loss 212

Posted by samzenpus from the insert-probe-and-remember dept.
electricbern writes "Scientists have accidentally discovered how to reverse memory loss by stimulating a specific part of the hypothalamus. Good news for people with Alzheimer's and those who just forgot where they left the car keys."
NASA

Design of Next-Gen NASA Rocket Showing Flaws 203

Posted by Zonk from the back-to-the-drawing-board dept.
caffiend666 writes "According to an AP news article, NASA engineers are concerned about the design for the new rocket meant to replace the shuttle. Work on the project has revealed that the first few minutes of flight could see 'violent shaking', a serious flaw that might destroy the craft soon after launch. 'NASA officials hope to have a plan for fixing the design as early as March, and they do not expect it to delay the goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2020. The shaking problem, which is common to solid rocket boosters, involves pulses of added acceleration caused by gas vortices in the rocket similar to the wake that develops behind a fast-moving boat.'

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