Comment Re:'historical fiction' ? (Score 1) 337
Why should I not be allowed to write the above?
Uhhmmm... Because you pretend that this fiction is fact ? Lying ? Slander ?
Comment Re:'historical fiction' ? (Score 1) 337
I mean, what makes you think that *you* have the right to include 'real' people into your fake fictional works ?
Indeed. Mixing fact and fiction is quaintly known in civilized societies as lying. Making up a genre called "historical fiction" doesn't change the simple fact that Hilliard is being dishonest -- saying things about a real person that he knows are untrue. If his sincere intent was "literary criticism" as his lawyers now claim, then he would have written an essay, not a novel. They're entirely different categories of prose and I hope the court can appreciate that "fictionalizing" events of real people's lives is not literary critique, it's literally lying. And if any of the made-up events are in any way insulting, it's slander.
Very true... Mod parent up, please.... ?
Comment Re:'historical fiction' ? (Score 1) 337
Surely the burden of proof is on those who want to restrict such rights.
Hahahaha! No. If you dream up fictional stuff on someone/something, and pretend that it is 'factual', then the burden of proof of that is on you, pal.
Comment Re:'historical fiction' ? (Score 1) 337
Fine. The next time one of the Rambo/Red Dawn-sort of US movies will come out, have the directors get a permission from the Communist Party of Russian Federation. Because, like, the CPSU (and its descendants) can manage their own publicity.
I have absolutely no problems whatsoever with 'factual' works... Just with 'fictional/imaginary' works
Comment Re:Am I a character of my own creation? (Score 1) 337
It would feel odd if my real life character had less legal protection than a fictional character I create.
A 100 % percent agreed...
Comment 'historical fiction' ? (Score 1) 337
Well, I hate to inflame on me the hate of all Slash.dot posters.. But ... Shouldn't all 'historical fiction' at least require the permission of the persons involved (or the people/institution representing that person) ? I mean, what makes you think that *you* have the right to include 'real' people into your fake fictional works ? Really ?
Submission + - 16-Year-Old Killed His Own Mother Over PlayStation (gamersleak.com) 1
Gamersleak writes: Kendall Anderson is a 5-foot-8 teenager from Philadelphia, his mother Rashida Anderson took away his PlayStation for bad behaviour the day after Thanksgiving. They had a 90 minute argument about the happening. After the argument, Kendall was very upset and pondered for three hour on whether or not to kill his mom. Later that night, Kendall entered his sleeping mother’s bedroom and hit her 20 times with a claw hammer.
Submission + - New SMB Bug in All Versions of Windows (threatpost.com) 2
Trailrunner7 writes: Researchers have identified a new remotely exploitable vulnerability in all current versions of Windows that could be used by attackers to run arbitrary code on vulnerable machines. There is already a proof-of-concept exploit in circulation for the bug.
The new bug lies in the BROWSER protocol, which runs on top of the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol on Windows. Microsoft security officials said that the vulnerability is most likely to be found on servers, but that all current versions are vulnerable.
The new bug lies in the BROWSER protocol, which runs on top of the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol on Windows. Microsoft security officials said that the vulnerability is most likely to be found on servers, but that all current versions are vulnerable.
Submission + - In IT Security, Good Enough Isn't Good Enough (threatpost.com)
Gunkerty Jeb writes: There’s the old joke about two hunters running from a lion, and the one runner says to the other: we can’t outrun the lion. And his buddy replied, “I don’t have to outrun the lion, I only have to outrun you.” Many, over the years, have applied the same logic to application security: If their software is ‘secure enough’ attackers will move on to easier targets.
That’s a dangerous assumption today, as attacks become more targeted and the attackers more skilled. Indeed, software security experts now say that building more secure applications from the start would create software that is more sustainable, resilient from attacks, and even more cost effective. Unfortunately, the focus of many software creators is to ship code that is ‘good enough.’
That’s a dangerous assumption today, as attacks become more targeted and the attackers more skilled. Indeed, software security experts now say that building more secure applications from the start would create software that is more sustainable, resilient from attacks, and even more cost effective. Unfortunately, the focus of many software creators is to ship code that is ‘good enough.’
Sysbrain Lets Satellites Think For Themselves 128
cylonlover writes "Engineers from the University of Southampton have developed what they say is the world's first control system for programming satellites to think for themselves. It's a cognitive software agent called sysbrain, and it allows satellites to read English-language technical documents, which in turn instruct the satellites on how to do things such as autonomously identifying and avoiding obstacles."
US Gov't Mistakenly Shuts Down 84,000 Sites 296
Chaonici writes "Last Friday, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seized ten websites accused of selling counterfeit goods or trafficking in child pornography. However, in the process, about 84,000 unrelated websites were taken offline when the government mistakenly seized the domain of a large DNS provider, FreeDNS. By now, the mistake has been corrected and most of the websites' domains again point to the sites themselves, rather than an intimidating domain seizure image. In a press release, the DHS praised themselves for taking down those ten websites, but completely failed to acknowledge their massive blunder."
Biotech Company Making Fossil Fuels With a 'Library' of Bacteria 386
Saysys sends an excerpt from a story at the Globe and Mail:
"In September, a privately held and highly secretive US biotech company named Joule Unlimited received a patent for 'a proprietary organism' – a genetically engineered cyanobacterium that produces liquid hydrocarbons: diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline. This breakthrough technology, the company says, will deliver renewable supplies of liquid fossil fuel almost anywhere on Earth, in essentially unlimited quantity and at an energy-cost equivalent of $30 (US) a barrel of crude oil. It will deliver, the company says, 'fossil fuels on demand.' ... Joule says it now has 'a library' of fossil-fuel organisms at work in its Massachusetts labs, each engineered to produce a different fuel. It has 'proven the process,' has produced ethanol (for example) at a rate equivalent to 10,000 US gallons an acre a year. It anticipates that this yield could hit 25,000 gallons an acre a year when scaled for commercial production, equivalent to roughly 800 barrels of crude an acre a year."
Comment Keep It Simple. (Score 1) 600
A 20 employee company ? They probably wont have anyone dedicated to do the administration/maintenance/repairs/upgrades/etc. ? Keep it simple: hire someone else to do it. Really. Too much hassle for such a small firm.
Comment Re:What's Wrong with Happy Kids? (Score 1, Informative) 458
>
> Try being the "fun uncle" instead of the "odd uncle who's always trying to make them into something they're not."
>
Word. :P
> Try being the "fun uncle" instead of the "odd uncle who's always trying to make them into something they're not."
>
Word.
Scalpers Bought Tickets With CAPTCHA-Busting Botnet 301
alphadogg writes "Three California men have pleaded guilty to charges they built a network of CAPTCHA-solving computers that flooded online ticket vendors and snatched up the very best seats for Bruce Springsteen concerts, Broadway productions and even TV tapings of Dancing with the Stars. The men ran a company called Wiseguy Tickets, and for years they had an inside track on some of the best seats in the house at many events. They scored about 1.5 million tickets after hiring Bulgarian programmers to build 'a nationwide network of computers that impersonated individual visitors' on websites such as Ticketmaster, MLB.com and LiveNation, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Thursday in a press release. The network would 'flood vendors computers at the exact moment that event tickets went on sale,' the DoJ said. They had to create shell corporations, register hundreds of fake Internet domains (one was stupidcellphone.com) and sign up for thousands of bogus e-mail addresses to make the scam work."
