Comment I wonder if GM saw this (Score 1) 365
I wonder if this might play into future decisions by GM.
Comment Hardware != PSN (Score 2) 312
I would be just fine with Sony protecting their PSN by banning modded consoles. That's good for gamers and means pirates will probably not be able to play their copies for long online. The part I have a problem with is Sony's assumption that the hardware is intertwined with PSN and therefore must litigate to erase all knowledge of how to uncouple the two. Why should Sony care if I want to buy 3 consoles to start a small Pov-Ray rendering farm? There's nothing wrong with trying to erase Sony's software from the console. The bit that is wrong is trying to modify their software to allow pirated games or hacks on the PSN. Geohot did not reveal how to add infinate ammo cheats to Call Of Duty. He simply provided access to the hardware that was originally part of the design.
Comment This sounds familiar (Score 1) 252
Didn't the same thing happen to torrent-finder not long ago.
Comment Deadlines make for poor products (Score 1) 603
One thing I notice is that things never move as fast as bureaucrats want/declare them to. If they do succeed magically it's because one of two things happened. First; questionable practices, lack of transparency, or lack of industry input occurred. Second, what came out is a pile of poo or is drastically under scope of what the dream was. If success happens, everyone pats each other on the back and doesn't ask how it happened. If things fail or arn't the success they were hoping for, then it just gets swept under the rug.
If you throw money at the problem, that doesn't always fix things. In the software industry you can't just pull a developer out of a hat and get 100% productivity immediately to solve a federal ambition because someone gave you some money. Governments have to bid for resources just like any utility does. If more utilities are asking for software that works and does what they need today in the field, that's what is going to happen. If the government pulls the trump card (FERC, NERC, NARUC, PUCs), then it hurts the industry as a hole because that time that was going into awesome software is now forced into federal compliance instead.
If you throw money at the problem, that doesn't always fix things. In the software industry you can't just pull a developer out of a hat and get 100% productivity immediately to solve a federal ambition because someone gave you some money. Governments have to bid for resources just like any utility does. If more utilities are asking for software that works and does what they need today in the field, that's what is going to happen. If the government pulls the trump card (FERC, NERC, NARUC, PUCs), then it hurts the industry as a hole because that time that was going into awesome software is now forced into federal compliance instead.
Comment Re:Recovery Fairy Tales again (Score 1) 274
The Great Zero Challenge only is targeting data recovering businesses, not governments. If the NSA really wanted the data on that drive they may be able to do it. However, if they did the general public wouldn't know.
Comment Simple answer (Score 1) 591
My house has crappy upload speeds which are just fine for everyday browsing, but not seeding. Additionally with a larger number of connections my router tends to slow down. Finally, I'd prefer not to get caught up in MAFIAA dragnet lawsuits. Even if everything is legal, the burden of disproof against mercenary "experts" is time out of my day and pocketbook.
This all being said, as soon as I can provide a reasonable upload speed without fear of lawsuit I'll be glad to just leave my machine seeding for the benefit of humanity.
This all being said, as soon as I can provide a reasonable upload speed without fear of lawsuit I'll be glad to just leave my machine seeding for the benefit of humanity.
Comment I got an idea... (Score 1) 648
How about we just go ahead and call it "the unpronounceable symbol which stands for the project formerly known as OpenOffice.org". We could totally pick some obscure symbol in unicode and just let that be the new name (I'm thinking of you opensarcasm).
Comment Re:Animations... hmm (Score 1) 284
No, you get a contender to animatedGIF. After 5+ years of development and 3rd party toolkits, you might get flash.
Lost Ends 955
Unless you live in a hatch somewhere, you are probably aware that Lost has ended. If you want a simple, clear explanation of exactly how the series resolved, Lost Untangled will do nothing to clarify things for you. For everyone else, I provide this discussion thread for you to complain/revel in the most spoiler-laden manner you desire.
Comment Shouldn't it be a user option? (Score 2, Insightful) 477
This sounds an awful lot like other patent/export issues we've had in the past. Linux support for WMV, MP3, or DVD codecs as well as SSL encryption are restricted in various countries for patent and export reasons; yet many successful projects have enabled users to make the choice on these features. If a linux user chooses not to pay the appropriate patent license fees, it's not the media player's fault that a user made that choice. Likewise, shouldn't Mozilla simply find a way to load this support as a plugin for those on the planet not bound by US patent trolls?
Android Copy of Young Woman Unveiled In Japan 264
An anonymous reader writes "According to IEEE Spectrum, Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, who had previously built a robot copy of himself, has now created a new android — and it's a 'she.' Geminoid F, a copy of a woman in her 20s with long dark hair, exhibits facial expressions more naturally than Ishiguro's previous android. 'Whereas the Geminoid HI-1 has some 50 actuators, the new Geminoid F has just 12. What's more, the HI-1 robot requires a large external box filled with compressors and valves. With Geminoid F, the researchers embedded air servo valves and an air servo control system into its body, so the android requires only a small external compressor.' It's also much better looking. Has the Japanese android master finally overcome the uncanny valley?"
If ET Calls, Who Speaks For Humanity? 371
EagleHasLanded writes "Who speaks for humankind if ET calls on us? Paul Davies, chairman of the SETI Post-Detection Taskgroup, is a likely ambassador. But Allen Tough founded the Invitation to ETI Web site, which encourages ET to make contact via email (and also strongly discourages humans from impersonating ET). But an individual in the UK got over some of the hurdles designed to weed out hoaxers, before finally throwing in the towel."
The Wi-Fi On the Bus 241
theodp writes "For students who endure hundreds of hours on a school bus each year in a desert exurb of Tucson, the Wi-Fi on the bus improves the ride. Last fall, school officials mounted a $200 mobile Internet router from Autonet Mobile to bus No. 92's sheet-metal frame, enabling students to surf the Web. What began as a hi-tech experiment has had an unexpected result — Wi-Fi has transformed the formerly boisterous bus rides into a rolling study hall, and behavioral problems have virtually disappeared. 'Boys aren't hitting each other, girls are busy, and there's not so much jumping around,' said J. J. Johnson, the Internet Bus driver."
Analyst Estimates AT&T Needs To Spend $5B To Catch Up 187
itwbennett writes "The public's perception of AT&T's network is poor and declining, apparently because of real shortcomings when compared with Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel,' says Gerard Hallaren, director of research at TownHall Investment Research. 'AT&T's capital expenditures on its wireless network from 2006 through September 2009 totaled about $21.6 billion, compared with $25.4 billion for Verizon and $16 billion for Sprint (including Sprint's investments in WiMax operator Clearwire). Over that time, Verizon has spent far more per subscriber: $353, compared with $308 for AT&T,' Hallaren said. 'Even Sprint has outspent AT&T per subscriber, laying out $310 for network capital expenditure.' All this means AT&T has a choice, says Hallaren: 'spend or suffer.'"
Truth Or Dare — What Is the Best US Cell Company? 395
Epsilon Eridani writes "I am returning to the US after an extended time overseas and upon my return I need to jump head first into the data enabled phone bandwagon. I have to admit ... I am lost as to what is the best company to choose. Before I left the US I used a Sprint HTC phone running Windows with the 'simply everything' plan to communicate and stay organized and a Sprint Wireless Card to connect my laptop to the world. Coming back several generations of technology later, what is the best set up technology-wise to link phone and laptop or two to the Internet? (Open source solutions accepted too!) Can the Slashdot community verify some of the claims on quality of service before I give my first born up when I sign a service contract?"
