Comment Re:Torrent where? (Score 2) 62
I noticed in TFA there's a twitter link to #OpAustralia that mentions it's being released next Saturday. I'm not sure which definition of "next" they're using.
Comment Re:Patents? (Score 4, Funny) 88
Wifi: patented! For shame australia. I am legitimately disgusted.
Well get fucked and use a captital A next time.
-- Australia
Comment I applied (Score 4, Funny) 117
But apparently 140 other characters got in before me :/
Comment From the TFA (Score 4, Informative) 155
Not sure how old this story is, but from among other things from TFA (well blog entry) that appear to be have updated over time:
2. My comment included three @ links. That probably is what triggered the spam classification system.
I don't use Facebook / Twitter but that along with other a few other characteristics of the message in question sound like a pretty reasonable way to set up a spam filter.
Comment Re:Elections in Australia (Score 5, Informative) 127
Any idea when the next elections are in Australia? What are the chances that Australians will vote for the same party that is doing this to them?
It must be held by the end of November 2013, but could potentially be before-hand.
As for your second question this is the the first I've heard of it, no coverage at all in mainstream media. That implies the opposition party didn't raise too many public concerns so no reason to think they wouldn't have done the same thing.
Comment Re:To be fair (Score 2) 259
Why would it be expensive to translate the American texts to Australian English?
Well I'm pretty sure the OP intended it as a joke, but on a serious note most software sold in the Australian market isn't localised anyway. For example in Windows 7 installed with Australia as the locale I have "color management" not "colour management". Microsoft Word comes with an Australian spell-check dictionary but otherwise all menus and documentation are American English. Not that I think many locals would really give a shit either way, especially if it meant paying more.
I can't think of any software off-hand where selecting the locale makes much of a meaningful difference other than timezones and metric units / paper sizes. But considering pretty much all the rest of the world uses metric you need that to export pretty much anywhere.
Submission + - Piracy drops 28 per cent (news.com.au)
commlinx writes: According to recent reports piracy worldwide piracy dropped 28 per cent in the first quarter of the year, an international watchdog says. Pirate attacks intensified, however, in Nigeria and Indonesia. Maybe this will bring an end to attempts by the MPAA and RIAA to bring in more draconian laws to combat piracy?
Comment Re:Someone teach this guy about circular buffers S (Score 1) 188
Plus he mentions concurrency and the confusion it may cause for other developers re-using the code, but doesn't address the obvious divide by zero that will occur if getB is called first even in a single-threaded application.
Comment Secret capability? (Score 5, Informative) 228
From the Mercedes site:
Remote Vehicle Diagnostics Beyond allowing you to perform a check of your vehicle's main systems remotely, mbrace2 technology can automatically alert both you and your authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer to potential issues before they become full-fledged problems. In addition, it enables your vehicle to receive software updates wirelessly through the mbrace2 network.
So while maybe undesirable, not sure it's 'secret'.
Comment Re:How is it illegal (Score 4, Insightful) 61
I believe it's covered under deceptive advertising laws. Normally the ACCC does good work and while I agree with the vibe of what they're trying to achieve - disallowing a banner to display or reference one product but link to a site selling a competitive product, I think in this case they got the wrong target. I'd much rather them go after the entity that placed the ad.
That's been the traditional approach taken with radio, television and print advertisements.
Submission + - I know this sounds absolutely bizarre, but I am a real life superhero. (prophetalan.com)
alahan27 writes: "I am a once in a Universe-time person. Through a bizarre chain of events, I came into contact with Jesus Christ and the Devil. Christ's sixth-sense communications are the only ones I listen to. He presents spiritual truths when I am reading, and predictions about my future when I watch selected movies and music. If no one believes me, it is a tragedy. If I get noticed, this is the greatest story of all time, along of Jesus'. I have witnesses, documentation, and am willing to send these to the mods if they request it (they probably will I think). I'm unsure about what I'm going to do once my movie is written and made, but I am a musician and would like to record. God willing, I will become PotUS and bring some actual change to this country."
Submission + - EA defends itself against thousands of anti-gay letters (gamesindustry.biz)
donniebaseball23 writes: Video game publisher Electronic Arts has not only had to defend itself against "worst company in America" labels, but GamesIndustry International has revealed that EA's been receiving thousands of letters protesting the inclusion of same-sex relationship content in games like Mass Effect and Star Wars: The Old Republic. The campaign against EA appears to be led by Florida Family Association and the Family Research Council. The letters threaten to boycott purchase of EA games if the company won't remove the LGBT content, and many allege that EA was pressured by LGBT activists to include the content, which they say is forcing LGBT themes on children playing the games. "This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment," said Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications.
Submission + - Cisco blocks thousands of legit IPs by mistake (itnews.com.au)
littlekorea writes: A very large quantity of outbound emails from legitimate IP addresses have been mistakenly blocked by the Cisco IronPort (SenderBase) web reputation service this week. Cisco engineers have confirmed a misconfiguration over the weekend caused the SenderBase service to give poor reputations to many businesses, particularly those using shared web servers or connecting small business server to a local ISP.
Submission + - Plasma Flashlight Zaps Bacteria (sciencemag.org) 2
sciencehabit writes: Researchers may have a means for remote disinfection in a portable "flashlight" that shines a ray of cold plasma to kill bacteria in minutes. The flashlight's battery is far too small to create a plasma on its own, so the researchers use a common electronic device known as a DC booster to step up the voltage to 10 kilovolts. One output of the booster is wired to the device's shell—or "grounded," in technical speak—while the other goes to an array of 12 fine, stainless steel needles that create a rapidly pulsing electrical discharge. The circuit has several "ballast" resistors that limit the discharge's current so that the flashlight is safe to touch. The device's portability makes it ideal for emergency calls, natural disaster responses, or military operations.
Submission + - JAXA Creates Camera That Can See Radiation (mainichi.jp)
Ben_R_R writes: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has created a camera that can "see" radioactive contamination by detecting gamma rays emitted by radioactive cesium and other substances. The camera has been tested in the disaster evacuation zone around Fukushima. The image captures levels of radiation in six different colors and overlays the result over an image captured with a wide angle lens.
