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Submission + - Jolla Announces 1st Meego/Android-App Device Available Year End 2013

Submitted by x_IamSpartacus_x
x_IamSpartacus_x writes: Jolla, the Finnish company that continued Nokia’s work on the MeeGo mobile platform, announced details of its first smartphone on Monday. Availability for the Jolla device is expected by year end and can be pre-ordered now; the phone will be priced at no more than €399 (US $512.26).
The Jolla hardware looks similar to that of Nokia’s Lumia, with a clean, button-less front face that houses the 4.5-inch touchcscreen.The phone will use a dual-core processor and support 4G LTE in some regions. Internal storage tops out at 16 GB, but can be expanded via microSD card. The phone also includes an 8 megapixel rear camera with auto focus.
The phone is also “Android app compliant” which, in a move similar to that of BlackBerry, can help with available apps at launch.
The Military

Navy To Deploy Lasers On Ship In 2014 402

Posted by samzenpus from the point-and-click dept.
Velcroman1 writes "The Pentagon has plans to deploy its first ever ship-mounted laser next year, a disruptive, cutting-edge weapon capable of obliterating small boats and unmanned aerial vehicles with a blast of infrared energy. Navy officials announced Monday that in early 2014, a solid-state laser prototype will be mounted to the fantail of the USS Ponce and sent to the 5th fleet region in the Middle East for real-world experience. 'It operates much like a blowtorch ... with an unlimited magazine,' one official said."

Submission + - Epic nerd showdown: Hobbit vs Snow White

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As part of the 2013 edition of the MTV Movie Awards, the network announced a new category Best Hero — with the popular vote decided by the counting of hashtagged tweets and Instagram photos. The category has lately devolved into a showdown between Tolkien geeks trying to #VoteBilbo and Kirsten Stewart fans barracking for #VoteSnowWhite. Even some of the Lord of the Rings stars have joined in the campaigning. At the time of writing, Snow White leads by some 13k votes, and one site has gone so far as to create a real time tracker that logs the comparative number of votes per minute and graphs the total votes count.

Submission + - Fake Twitter Followers Becomes Multimillion Dollar Business (nytimes.com)

Submitted by RougeFemme
RougeFemme writes: There are more than two dozen companies that sell fake Twitter accounts. Those that sell them claim to make up to one million dollars per week. Two Italian security researchers estimate that there are as many as 20 million fake Twitter follower accounts. It's very difficult to tell the different between fake and real Twitter accounts. "Some fake accounts look even better than real accounts do.” Software exists that can create up to 100,000 Twitter accounts in 5 days.

Comment Re:Clueless (Score 1) 550

by x_IamSpartacus_x (#42640705) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: How Do I Get My Spouse To Start Gaming With Me?
OP Here.
Holy hell, that's a lot of assumptions about me! It's really not offensive and it kinda makes me laugh and I guess my submission doesn't really describe my entire situation so I can't really blame you. I would probably tend to agree with you about most cases of people who live overseas, especially doing NGO work.
An honest, "Thank you" for caring about my marriage and family.
I may be flattering myself but I really think my marriage is awesome. My wife and I love each other immensely and we support each other quite a bit in the work we do.
My basic situation is this: Work situation aside, we have our kids in bed by about 7:30 or 8 each night and after that we have very few entertainment options. We don't do this every single night but we often find ourselves watching a movie or TV show on DVD together. This works well and I have no complaints, it's just that our DVD collection has been watched enough that we are both looking for new entertainment options when we want to wind down together in the evenings. I'm just looking for ideas for how to spend 4-8 hours per week with my wife and engage her in what I find to be a rewarding and entertaining pastime; computer gaming. I have almost completely stopped computer gaming after getting married and it wasn't a hard decision to make. I gladly left those games behind when we got married and I don't begrudge the sacrifice at all. I'm not addicted to anything, she's not looking for more attention from me, I just want to do something new with her and I thought the Slashdot community might be a resource for finding out.

Comment Re:Why game? (Score 4, Interesting) 550

by x_IamSpartacus_x (#42640647) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: How Do I Get My Spouse To Start Gaming With Me?
Submitter here.
Yes, it is very weird. I don't really hang out with other expats who have that mentality. I live here and I'm happy to be here. It's my home, my kids were born here, they are citizens of this country and I don't want to create an American bubble around myself and my family. I'm actually a missionary and, let me assure you, I spend a LOT of time with the culture I'm in. I'm not trying to avoid spending time with Mozambicans. I'm trying to find an interactive activity I can do with my wife in the evenings after our kids go down. We don't have many board games, we can't go out (they kids are asleep in the house) and we are often sitting around without many options for evening entertainment except movies or TV shows on DVD. I want to invite her to join something I really enjoy doing (computer gaming) and find a lot of value in. It's nothing to do with avoiding local culture or neglecting my kids (as other posters have assumed).

Comment Re:Why game? (Score 1) 550

by x_IamSpartacus_x (#42640619) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: How Do I Get My Spouse To Start Gaming With Me?
OP Here.
I am often out exploring Mozambique. It's not about that. I am looking for something my wife and I can do in the evenings together (2 or 3 times per week) instead of watching something from our drying up movie collection. It wouldn't interfere with time with my kids, they are sleeping by 8:00 PM and we can't go out after that with them down in the house. I just want something I can spend 4-8 hours per week on with my wife in the evenings after 8 PM.

Comment Re:Let Me Explain (Score 2) 550

by x_IamSpartacus_x (#42640601) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: How Do I Get My Spouse To Start Gaming With Me?
OP here.
What I guess I didn't explain in the summary is that I DON'T game anymore since being married (and especially since having the kids). What I DO do is have 2 or 3 nights per week where my wife and I watch a movie or TV show on DVD together. I'm currently out of fresh movies and shows so that's why I'm looking for a game we can spend 4-8 hours per week on. Nothing addicted, nothing excessive, nothing even while the kids are awake (I have 3 under 3 and they go to bed by 7:30-8:00 PM). Just something to do to have fun in the evenings with my wife. Is there anything (besides things like Minecraft) that we could both enjoy together?

Submission + - How do I get my spouse to start gaming with me?

Submitted by x_IamSpartacus_x
x_IamSpartacus_x writes: I’ve been a gamer for a long time (started on Nibbles in MS-DOS) and enjoy pretty much any good game. I can enjoy side-scrolling relics (original Prince of Persia, Win 95), to modern MMORPGs (stopped playing my 85 lvl Mage on WoW just recently, read on to see why), to a good sports game (Madden series are a blast) and many more. I’ve been married for 4 years now and have hardly touched my games since being married and starting having kids. My wife and I are Americans but live overseas and have little access to new movies/entertainment and, from experience, I know that a good game can provide much more entertainment than a good movie. My question is, what are good ways/good games that I can use to get my wife into computer gaming? We both have good laptops that I’d love to get her interested in using to do co-op or combative games with me. Because of my long experience, gaming comes naturally to me and so even on a game I haven’t played I would probably be much better than she. Is there a game or idea that would take away the embarrassing factor for her of being much worse than I am while still being enjoyable and worth spending a lot of time on with me? Do any other Slashdotters struggle getting their spouse to game with them?

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Ethics of working for data collecting company

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: What do Slashdot readers think of the ethics of a data collecting company? For the past few years I have worked for a supermarket part-time, scanning loyalty cards with each transaction. But ever since I have started working there it has really bothered me. Data leach companies like Datalogix are becoming more prominent, as is "Big Data". The supermarket has been doing it for years, but has started to push it hard by interrogating workers who don't scan enough cards and giving exclusive discounts to card holders.

Am I a part of the overall problem when I ask customers for their loyalty cards, and help the supermarket track shoppers' transactions? Should I move, or is this outside of my control?

Comment Re:Excellent (Score 5, Insightful) 1576

by x_IamSpartacus_x (#41903569) Attached to: Barack Obama Retains US Presidency
Ok, honestly, I wish people could try to be a little less partisan. Both men were good men and would try to serve this country. Sure they both have selfish motivations for some of the things they do but, seriously, who the hell wouldn't in that position???.
Let's all agree that, though Obama may do things differently than you personally think he should, he's going to lead America as best he can.
I'm generally conservative/libertarian in my politics and most of my friends align in that direction. I infrequently use Facebook and when I looked this morning I was disgusted with the ridiculous epithets and flat out doucheiness of a LOT of people who call themselves "Christians" or at least moral people.
Obama is a good man. I would lead a bit differently than I but he's NOT a "Baby Killer", the "Antichrist", the "Nigger in the White House", or any other hateful and decidedly unchristian thing so many morally ugly people are saying about him.
He's your president. He's your supreme leader. He's under tremendous pressure and stress to serve America and her interests. Speak of him that way or shut the hell up.
Slashdot.org

A Day in Your Life, Fifteen Years From Now 687

Posted by Soulskill from the time-travel dept.
Fifteen years from now, your alarm goes off at 7:30 AM, pulling you out of a dead sleep. You roll over, grumbling a command, and the alarm obediently shuts up. You drift off again, but ten minutes later the alarm returns, more insistent. It won't be so easily pacified this time; the loose sensory netting inside your pillow will keep the noise going until it detects alpha waves in drastically higher numbers than theta waves. Or until it gets the automated password from the shower. Sighing, you roll out of bed, pull your Computing ID (CID) card from the alarm unit, and stumble out of the bedroom. Pausing briefly to drop your CID into your desktop computer, you make your way to the shower and begin washing. Your alarm triggered the shower's heating unit, so the water comes out at a pleasant 108 degrees, exactly your preference. (42 degrees, you remind yourself — the transition to metric still isn't second nature, after almost two full years.) You wash quickly to avoid exceeding your water quota, and step out refreshed, ready to meet the day. (Read on for more.)

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