Comment Re:Wheres the friking backlash? (Score 1) 479
I don't pay $1 per kwh.
Submission + - Paul Allen to Bid in 700 MHz Wireless Auction (techluver.com)
Tech.Luver writes: "A venture led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has applied to bid in an upcoming auction of 700 MHz wireless airwaves, according to FCC's "Accepted Applications" list released on late Tuesday.
Allen and Vulcan Spectrum were on a list of scores of potential bidders who filed applications ahead of a December 3 FCC deadline. The auction applicants also included, Google, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm.
( http://techluver.com/2007/12/18/paul-allen-to-bid-in-700-mhz-wireless-spectrum-auction/ )"
Submission + - Duke Nukem Forever Trailer Tomorrow 2
kaos07 writes: 3D Realms main man George Broussard has dropped word (http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/showthread.php?t=29639/) that a trailer for the elusive Duke Nukem Forever will be released tomorrow, no joke.
"Last Saturday we had our annual company Christmas party. It was a lot of fun as usual but it featured one special surprise," explained Broussard. "It turns out that several people had been secretly working late nights and into the wee hours of the morning preparing a special video for those at the party. They created a short teaser for Duke Nukem Forever. After seeing the teaser we thought it was something we should share with all of you and while it's just a teaser, rest assured more is coming.
Accompanying this massive announcement was a single in-engine screenshot. http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/attachment.php?s=4323b7d2c0b4dc12919f0f2f9ae9cc11&attachmentid=8272&d=1198015727/
"Last Saturday we had our annual company Christmas party. It was a lot of fun as usual but it featured one special surprise," explained Broussard. "It turns out that several people had been secretly working late nights and into the wee hours of the morning preparing a special video for those at the party. They created a short teaser for Duke Nukem Forever. After seeing the teaser we thought it was something we should share with all of you and while it's just a teaser, rest assured more is coming.
Accompanying this massive announcement was a single in-engine screenshot. http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/attachment.php?s=4323b7d2c0b4dc12919f0f2f9ae9cc11&attachmentid=8272&d=1198015727/
Submission + - Facebook Settles Text-Messaging Lawsuit (techluver.com)
Tech.Luver writes: "Pressured by a lawsuit, social networking giant Facebook will adopt new measures to prevent its 58 million members from sending text messages to recycled cell phone numbers.
The lawsuit filed by Lindsey Abrams of Patriot, Ind., said she received text messages with explicit comments and other upsetting content — and had to pay 10 cents each time. Facebook received a share of the fee, according to the complaint.
Abrams started getting the unsolicited messages shortly after she got a new mobile number from Verizon in November 2006.
( http://techluver.com/2007/12/18/facebook-settles-text-messaging-lawsuit/ )"
Submission + - Can Facebook Take On eBay?
An anonymous reader writes: It looks like Facebook has invited developers to discuss how payments can be done on their site. According to this report, interested developers have to sign an NDA (surprise surprise), with FB saying: "You'll be among the first informed for anything payments-related on Facebook, including opportunities to participate in any related trials".
Submission + - ABC TV and Linux users (abc.net.au)
gazzarda writes: Why is it that TV networks leave out Linux (and sometimes Mac) users. Linux users are not able to use the ABC Now software or the browser based player. The ABC website for the ABC Now player mentions that "Due to the technical requirements of ABC Now we have been unable to find a robust and secure tool for making the Flash based code into a stable Linux version at this time..." Is this really a technical difficulty, the network's unwillingness to put the resources to develop a Linux player or due to licensing issues?
Submission + - Judge Rules Investigation Into CIA Tapes Legal (aljazeera.net)
TDarwin writes: Many may know that the Bush Administration, through the Justice Department, tried to stop the investigation into the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes by saying that the incidents didn't happen in Guantanamo and therefore were not protected by previous orders to keep any evidence of the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners.
On December 19th, A Federal Judge ruled that this was not the case and that the investigation into the tapes' deletion could continue. For more, see this article from Al Jazeera.
Submission + - Adobe and Yahoo test ads in PDF files 1
frdmfghtr writes: Adobe and Yahoo! are experimenting with ads in PDF documents. FTA: "The text-based ads are displayed in a panel adjacent to the content with no moving or flashing elements. Each time the PDF is viewed, ads are matched by Yahoo to the content." Next up: AdBlock Plus for PDF?
Submission + - New Political 'do not call" Registry (stoppoliticalcalls.org)
Shaun Dakin writes: "Hi,
Wanted to let you know that a new non-profit, non-partisan org has launched the National Political Do Not Contact Registry to stop politicians from calling you at home.
Did you know that politicians exempted themselves from the Federal DNC list?
64% of American voters received robo calls in the 2006 election cycle according to the PEW Charitable Trust survey.
Learn more http://www.stoppoliticalcalls.org/index.php
Shaun Dakin
CEO and Founder"
Submission + - Internet to reach capacity by 2010 story overblown (computerworld.com.au) 1
Gustoman writes: The co-author of a report that received global media coverage claiming the Internet will reach capacity by 2010 says the study was blown way out of proportion.
Headlines such as "Internet facing meltdown" and "Internet blackouts predicted by 2010" are way off course, said the report's co-author Johna Till Johnson, president and senior founding partner of Nermertes Research.
According to her, all the study concluded is that a mismatch between demand and access capacity will be reached in three to five years that will have to be met by billions of dollars in spending by carriers.
It estimates access providers will have to spend between US$42 billion and US$55 billion to close that gap, which could be 70 per cent more than they plan to invest. Otherwise, the next YouTube may be throttled because the Internet will be hard to access.
Johnson goes on to explain the merits of the report, including the bandwidth consumption models used and interviews with vendors, enterprises, service providers and investment companies the research firm conducted to arrive at its findings.
"We explicitly are not saying the Internet's going to break," she said.
Submission + - Google purges thousands of suspected malware sites (itnews.com.au) 1
Stony Stevenson writes: "In response to a concerted effort by cyber criminals to infect the computers of Google users with malware and make them unwitting partners in crime, Google has apparently purged tens of thousands of malicious Web pages from its index. Alex Eckelberry, CEO of Sunbelt Software, noted that many search results on Google led to malicious Web pages that expose visitors to exploits that can compromise vulnerable systems. Sunbelt published a list of search terms that returned malicious pages, the result of search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns by cyber criminals to get their pages prominently ranked in Google — Sunbelt refers to this as "SEO poisoning."
Let's hope Google has done its research and hasn't purged legitimate sites."
Let's hope Google has done its research and hasn't purged legitimate sites."
Submission + - U of A team wins prize for creating E.Coli Biofuel (ualberta.ca)
An anonymous reader writes: The University of Alberta ButaNerds have taken first prize in the energy category at an international genetic engineering competition at MIT in Cambridge, Mass.
The U of A team is using E. coli bacteria to produce butanol, a biofuel that could one day replace gasoline. Butanol also cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions and takes food crops out of the equation in the development of biofuels.
Teams from 59 universities from around the world took part in the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, which invites researchers from all over the world to address the question: Can simple biological systems be built from standard, interchangeable parts and operated in living cells?
Submission + - Apple Ignoring Game Developers 1
An anonymous reader writes: When Valve called Apple out for not taking games and game developers seriously, nobody really paid much attention. Despite Valve's offerings in terms of games, they never really did anything for the Mac and so these were seen as outside comments. Between this and the later news about the large amount of money asked by the company for a Mac port of Half-Life 2, the arguments just weren't that convincing. Now, longtime Mac developer id software is singing the same song.
John Carmack has criticized Apple for its game related decisions, concluding that the company simply does not get this market. Despite joining Jobs on stage at WWDC, to renew his studio's commitment to the platform, the legendary game developer is not very optimistic about gaming on the Mac.
John Carmack has criticized Apple for its game related decisions, concluding that the company simply does not get this market. Despite joining Jobs on stage at WWDC, to renew his studio's commitment to the platform, the legendary game developer is not very optimistic about gaming on the Mac.
Submission + - Amazon Patents NPV-Based Delivery Date
mikesd81 writes: "Techdirt reports that Amazon has been awarded a patent for Generating Current Order Fulfillment Plans Based on Expected Future Orders. Essentially, if Amazon deems that you won't be a long time customer or ordering again soon, your order will take longer to be expedited."
Submission + - hard drives that are used often, last longer?
tora201 writes: The BBC reports that Google engineers have surprisingly discovered that the impact of heavy use and high temperatures on hard disk drive failure may be overstated.
From the article: "Google employs its own file system to organise the storage of data, using inexpensive commercially available hard drives rather than bespoke systems. Hard drives less than three years old and used a lot are less likely to fail than similarly aged hard drives that are used infrequently, according to the report."
