Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Google Nudes Win on Appeal

Submitted by astonishedelf
astonishedelf writes: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/archives/20 07/05/17/google_nudes_win_on_appeal.html Google nudes win on appeal By Jack Schofield / Google 01:44pm Back in 2004, a company called Perfect 10 sued Google on the grounds that its use of thumbnails violated its copyrights. This attracted attention because of the subject matter — nude photography — and because it represented a significant challenge to the working of the Web. (Perfect 10 also sued Amazon.) Google has now won the case on appeal, according to the Washington Post. It says: The appeals court ruled that the thumbnails fell within a "fair use" exception in copyright law because they play a role in the search process and thus have a function different from that of the original photos. "We conclude that the significantly transformative nature of Google's search engine, particularly in light of its public benefit, outweighs Google's superseding and commercial uses of the thumbnails in this case," Judge Sandra S. Ikuta wrote for the panel. However, "Yesterday's ruling was not a complete victory for Google, because the judges directed the lower court to reconsider a separate finding in the company's favor," says TWP. Basically, it seems the problem is that while Google's thumbnails may not infringe copyright, it was linking to sites that do infringe copyright — and knowing that, not stopping it.
Slashdot.org

Submission + - Skill based immigration better than H1B?

Submitted by ghoul
ghoul writes: Congress is talking about shifting to skill based immigration instead of family based immigration. This should immediately make it easier for Indian and Chinese Engineers and Scientists to immigrate on green cards without needing to go through the H1B no mans land. This is because under the current system they get stuck as the quota are set to be 7% of total from any country in the world irrespective of population size. This means the Vatican gets the same sized quota as China or India. In the new system the losers are Latin Americans who are mostly unskilled labourers (note mostly I know quite a few Brilliant latin american post grads) but used to be able to get in easier as there being a large number of latin american countires each country got 7%. How does the Slashdot community which has strong opinions on H1B feel about this? As these new workers will be on Green cards they wont be beholden to companies and should not depress the market as they wont take any shit from companies. In fact if the green card process can be shortened down to 6 months H1Bs can be abolished all together. Given this if people still feel this is not right are we still talking about protecting jobs or about fear of the stranger? Canada, Britain and Australia seem to be doing very well with these kind of point based systems.
United States

Submission + - FAQ: The H-1B battle

Submitted by jcatcw
jcatcw writes: The federal government received, in a single day, far more applications for H-1B visas than the 65,000 alloted. Now, both the Senate and the House are considering raising the cap at the urging of high-tech companies. In the House, a broad immigration bill called the STRIVE Act of 2007, for Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy, includes a proposal to raise the annual H-1B cap to 115,000 visas at first and to as many as 180,000 visas in the future — figures that could match what the Senate proposes in its reform bill. President Bush has repeatedly voiced support for an H-1B cap increase.
Nintendo

Submission + - Nintendo Power to shut down?

Submitted by
BTWR
BTWR writes: "IGN is reporting the rumor that Nintendo Power, the offical Nintendo Magazine is going to shut down. IGN reports: Nintendo of America was planning to move a significant chunk of its marketing and sales departments from Seattle to either San Francisco or New York, IGN has learned that the company may be planning to close or restructure its official Nintendo Power magazine. This would be a shame, as they became better since their restructuring last year. And, I owe Nintendo Power for giving me that free copy of Dragon Warrior all those years ago (not to mention the Zelda Collection too)."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft lists patent violations

Submitted by
prostoalex
prostoalex writes: "Microsoft listed specific open source and/or free products that violate Microsoft patents: "Free Linux software violates 42 patents. Graphical user interfaces, the way menus and windows look on the screen, breach 65. E-mail programs step on 15, and other programs touch 68 other patents". The company also claimed OpenOffice violates 45 various patents. An extensive list of Microsoft patents can be perused on Google Patent Search."

Soldiers Bond With Bots, Take Them Fishing 462

Posted by Zonk from the brave-new-world dept.
HarryCaul writes "Soldiers are finding themselves becoming more and more attached to their robotic helpers. During one test of a mine clearing robot, 'every time it found a mine, blew it up and lost a limb, it picked itself up and readjusted to move forward on its remaining legs, continuing to clear a path through the minefield.' The man in charge halted the test, though - 'He just could not stand the pathos of watching the burned, scarred and crippled machine drag itself forward on its last leg. This test, he charged, was inhumane.' Sometimes the soldiers even take their metallic companions fishing. Is there more sympathy for Robot Rights than previously suspected?"
Privacy

Submission + - RealID May Still Be Stopped

Submitted by
MagusSlurpy
MagusSlurpy writes: "The EFF, amongst others, is alerting readers to the fact that the Real ID Act, snuck through Congress in 2005, may still be stopped. The Department of Homeland Security is accepting comments (keyword DHS-2006-0030) through 5 p.m. EST today, May 8th, on the Act, and with both growing grassroots and Congressional opposition, the Act could be stopped. Let the DHS know how you feel about Real ID!"
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - iPod Poll

Submitted by seniorcoder
seniorcoder writes: How many iPods do/did you own?
  • 0 — never will own one
  • 0 — would consider one
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3 — they break
  • More than 3 — Apple fanboy
  • As many as CowboyNeal
User Journal

Journal Journal: AppleTV hits the streets 474

Journal by jdray
Stories are starting to pop up all over the web about the AppleTV, which evidently means that Apple has set loose the hounds of marketing and the units are (or will be tomorrow) available in Apple stores. Still no word on whether
Programming

Submission + - Five Ajax anti-patterns to avoid like the plague

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: If people did everything right the first time, the world would be entirely different. So it is with Ajax. There's a lot about Ajax to learn, and there are a lot of mistakes to make along the way. I've done a lot of coding, writing, talking, and supporting of Ajax developers, including myself. And through that I've learned a lot about how Ajax is done right and how it's done wrong. This article discusses some very common Ajax coding practices that can hurt you and will want to avoid.
United States

Submission + - Gore and NOAA attack "planetary emergency"

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "While Al Gore was on Capital Hill today pressing Congress to cut pollution and in general save the world from itself, scientists from NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory announced a tool to more effectively monitor changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The tool, called CarbonTracker, will let its users evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts to reduce or store carbon emissions. CarbonTracker is an online system that calculates carbon dioxide uptake and release at the Earth's surface from a system of sensors all over the world over time.Meanwhile Gore, in testimony before a congressional committee, warned that human- caused global warming constituted a "planetary emergency" requiring an aggressive federal response. Gore rejected complaints by Republican lawmakers that he was waging an alarmist war on the use of coal and oil. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1274 3"

Slashdot Top Deals

"If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in the library?" -- Lily Tomlin

Close