Comment Re:It sounds like he was being an asshole (Score 1) 174
I unsubscribed from the Demand Progress mailing list because of their whitewashing of the charges against him.
Submission + - Aaron Swartz Arrested (boston.com)
Kindgott writes: Aaron Swartz, co-founder of Reddit, and Demand Progress has been arrested for allegedly using unauthorized access of MIT's network to download over 4 million academic journal entries from JSTOR's archives, and posting them on file sharing sites.
Demand Progress has released a statement regarding the arrest.
Demand Progress has released a statement regarding the arrest.
Court on Video Games: Less Cleavage, More Carnage 397
On Monday we discussed news of a Supreme Court ruling which held that violent video games deserved free speech protection under the First Amendment. Now, frequent Slashdot contributor Bennett Haselton writes with this followup that questions the Court's consistency in such matters.
"I'm glad the Supreme Court struck down the California law against selling violent video games to minors, but reading over the decision, I had the odd feeling that the arguments by the dissenters made more sense than the majority — mainly because of the hypocrisy of continuing to ban sexuality while giving violence a pass."
Read on for the rest of Bennett's thoughts.
Comment We have these here (Score 1) 163
I've never used 'em. I don't use the self checkout unless I'm only getting a couple items, either, and god help you if you want to get beer. Honestly, the checkout lines are never a problem at our Stop and Shop so there's no real added convenience to using it for me.
A Court's Weak Argument For Blocking IP Subpoenas 220
Frequent Slashdot contributor Bennett Haselton writes to point out some unfortunate holes in a judge's recent ruling that was largely welcomed 'round these parts:
"A federal judge has ruled that a Canadian adult film producer cannot subpoena the identities of ISP users that were alleged to be sharing its copyrighted movies. Regardless of whether one supports the conclusion, the judge's reasoning was pretty weak. But the real hurdle is convincing people that a non-lawyer is entitled to call out a federal judge on their logic in the first place."
Read on for the rest of Bennett's thoughts.
Comment Better check your ISP TOS (Score 2, Insightful) 520
Your ISP may be none to happy when they find out you're sharing your connection, I'd double check their terms of service just in case.
My Crowdsourced Follow-Up About Crowdsourcing 59
Slashdot regular contributor Bennett Haselton writes
"In my last article, I proposed an algorithm that Facebook could use to handle
abuse complaints, which would make it difficult for co-ordinated mobs to get unpopular content removed by filing complaints all at once. I offered a total of $100 for the best reader suggestions on how to improve the idea, or why they thought it wouldn't work. Read their suggestions and decide what value I got for my infotainment dollar."
Crowdsourcing the Censors: A Contest 111
Frequent contributor Bennett Haselton is back with an article about how sites with huge amounts of user-generated content struggle to deal with abuse complaints, and could benefit from a crowd-sourced policing system similar to Slashdot's meta-moderation. He writes
"In The Net Delusion, Evgeny Morozov cites examples of online mobs that filed phony abuse complaints in order to shut down pro-democracy Facebook groups and YouTube videos criticizing the Saudi royal family. I've got an idea for an algorithm that would help solve the problem, and I'm offering $100 (or a donation to a charity of your choice) for the best suggested improvement, or alternative, or criticism of the idea proposed in this article."
Hit the link below to read the rest of his thoughts.
Comment Sign me up! (Score 2) 84
I'll queue up downloads 24/7 for the first six months, and that should probably take care of any music I, my family, and my friends wanted anyhow.
Comment Just my luck for switching back to Intel (Score 1) 212
I'd been exclusively building and using AMD systems for my past 2-3 machine builds, but I just built a new computer over the weekend. Just my luck it was a Sandy Bridge CPU with a P67 chipset motherboard. I suppose I'll go fill out my registration for the motherboard tonight and wait for Gigabyte to contact me regarding a recall.
Single-Player Game Model 'Finished,' Says EA Exec 439
Frank Gibeau, label president for EA Games, recently spoke with Develop about the publisher's long term development strategy. Gibeau thinks developing major games without multiplayer modes is a passing fad:
"...it’s not only about multiplayer, it’s about being connected. I firmly believe that the way the products we have are going, they need to be connected online. ... I volunteer you to speak to EA’s studio heads; they’ll tell you the same thing. They’re very comfortable moving the discussion towards how we make connected gameplay – be it co-operative or multiplayer or online services – as opposed to fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you’re out. I think that model is finished. Online is where the innovation and the action [are] at."
PC Era Forecasted To End In 18 Months 449
dcblogs writes "In a historic shift, shipments of smartphones, tablets and other app-enabled devices will overtake PC shipments in the next 18 months, an event that may signify the end of the PC-centric era, market research firm IDC said. IDC said worldwide shipments this year of app-enabled devices, which include smartphones and media tablets such as the iPad, will reach 284 million. In 2011, makers will ship 377 million of these devices, and in 2012, the number will reach 462 million shipments, exceeding PC shipments. In 2012, there will be 448 million PC shipments. One shipment equals one device. PC sales will continue to climb, but will no longer rule."
Google Buys Manhattan Office/Telecom Hub 87
1sockchuck writes "Google will soon own one of the world's choice pieces of Internet real estate. The company has reportedly signed a contract to buy 111 8th Avenue in New York for an estimated $1.9 billion — or about $250 million more than Google spent to buy YouTube. The building serves as Google's main New York sales office, but is also one of the city's main telecom hotels, housing major data center operations for Digital Realty Trust, Equinix, Telx and dozens of network providers. Google currently has about 500,000 square feet of office space at 111 8th Avenue."
Comment Re:Miserably Bad Sources for Article (Score 1) 354
As an aside, I'm a little confused about how the lost time and the litigation process "ended" his career as a yield engineer. Have other people refused to hire him? Does the field change so fast that he truly doesn't know anything useful anymore and may as well have switched jobs? That whole thing smells of drumming up sympathy and inflating the measurable economic loss to seek a larger judgment, or perhaps getting those benefits to the case out of convenience after deciding voluntarily to give up the profession for the entrepreneurial endeavor the plaintiff is engaged in now.
This portion of his lawyer's argument struck me as odd, as well. I'm not sure how Seagate hiring you for 9 months after you worked at TI kills your career forever. Anyone around here have an insight, or is the lawyer blowing smoke?
China Defends Its IP Practices, Says 'We Paid Up' 214
hackingbear writes "Countering accusations that China's high-speed rail technologies are knockoffs, the head of China's Intellectual Property Administration in a conference said (paraphrasing): "We bought technologies from German, Japan, France, and Canada. We paid up. It is perfectly legal. We then innovate on top of them like most other inventions in the world. Why is that pirating?' (Link is to a Google translation; here is the original.) He cited China's ability, the world's first, to build high-speed rail in a high mountain area as an example of additional innovation."
