Comment What's HTML? (Score 1) 185
As long as it handles the GOPHER protocol I'll use it.
The Queen Joins Facebook 155
H3xx writes "The Queen is set to have an official presence on Facebook when a British Monarchy page launches on the internet-based social networking site. Buckingham Palace says it is not a personal profile page, but users can 'like' the service and receive updates on their news feed. The Queen has reportedly embraced the web and sends e-mails. A British Monarchy Twitter feed is also available. The Facebook page is due to go live from Monday morning. The page will also feature the Court Circular, recording the previous day's official engagements."
Submission + - The Queen Joins Facebook (bbc.co.uk)
H3xx writes: The Queen is set to have an official presence on Facebook when a British Monarchy page launches on the internet-based social networking site. Buckingham Palace says it is not a personal profile page, but users can "like" the service and receive updates on their news feed.
The Queen has reportedly embraced the web and sends e-mails. A British Monarchy Twitter feed is also available.
The Facebook page is due to go live from Monday morning. The page will also feature the Court Circular, recording the previous day's official engagements.
The Queen has reportedly embraced the web and sends e-mails. A British Monarchy Twitter feed is also available.
The Facebook page is due to go live from Monday morning. The page will also feature the Court Circular, recording the previous day's official engagements.
Comment Re:The real question: (Score 0) 135
I think the bigger story is that after all these iterations... developers still don't know how to properly use the hardware.
It'll be a dark day when companies release a "hands free" console and have the API locked down so tight that the only way to develop for them is to use their hands-free IDE.
Can you imagine what it would be like using a hands-free keyboard to write code?
Comment Re:Breaking news! (Score 0) 650
Person advocates policy that is in his own best interest! News at 10!
"When asked about his reasons for his objections to the bill, Ballmer was quoted as saying 'DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS!' for twenty minutes straight."
Submission + - Oracle monetizing Java (theregister.co.uk) 1
jtotheh writes: According to the register, Oracle is going to make two tiers of Java — a free one and a premium paid one.
Comment Artifacts (Score 0) 728
I'm also wondering why we insist that:
- our source code be able to be wrapped to 78 characters
- a tab (0x09) character is equal to 8 spaces (unless you specify otherwise)
- most major programming languages have function names that are in US English, even Ruby, which was developed by the Japanese, and Scilab's programming language which was developed by French scientists
- POSIX regular expressions' [:alphanum:] character class is most often written as [A-z0-9]
The truth is that we programmers prefer to be able to type things quickly without having to memorize character codes for a variety of Unicode characters; we want to be able to type simple variable and function names using a standard set of glyphs and not have to worry about remembering which variation of a Chinese pictograph was used.
If it comes down to it, we could all just use Ook and not worry about language barriers (or getting much of anything done for that matter).
Comment Re:remote iPhone volume control (Score 0) 147
In all honesty, you are in fact cooking all the microorganisms in the water...
I wonder how many single-celled organisms it takes to make soup.
Comment Re:remote iPhone volume control (Score 0) 147
It was the AI in the iPod saying, "Okay, you're cooking at maximum power. Perhaps you should concentrate on your cooking before you kill someone."
Damn auto-configuration. It's exactly why I don't use Ubuntu.
USB 'Dead Drops' 322
Okian Warrior writes "Aram Bartholl is building a series of USB dead drops in New York City. Billed as 'an anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space,' he has embedded USB sticks as file cache devices throughout the city. Bartholl says, 'I am "injecting" USB flash drives into walls, buildings and curbs accessible to anybody in public space. You are invited to go to these places (so far 5 in NYC) to drop or find files on a dead drop. Plug your laptop to a wall, house or pole to share your files and data.' Current locations (more to come) include: 87 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, NY (Makerbot), Empire Fulton Ferry Park, Brooklyn, NY (Dumbo), 235 Bowery, NY (New Museum), Union Square, NY (Subway Station 14th St), and West 21st Street, NY (Eyebeam)"
Ozzy Osbourne's Genome Reveals Some Neanderthal Lineage 151
ByOhTek writes "CNN reports that in July, rocker Ozzy Osbourne became one of few to submit his blood to have his full genome sequenced and analyzed. The results are in, and it turns out his genome reveals some Neanderthal lineage. What does Ozzie have to say about it? 'I was curious, given the swimming pools of booze I've guzzled over the years - not to mention all of the cocaine, morphine, sleeping pills, cough syrup, LSD, Rohypnol... there's really no plausible medical reason why I should still be alive. Maybe my DNA could say why,' he wrote."
1928 Time Traveler Caught On Film? 685
Many of you have submitted a story about Irish filmmaker George Clarke, who claims to have found a person using a cellphone in the "unused footage" section of the DVD The Circus, a Charlie Chaplin movie filmed in 1928. To me the bigger mystery is how someone who appears to be the offspring of Ram-Man and The Penguin got into a movie in the first place, especially if they were talking to a little metal box on set. Watch the video and decide for yourself.
Comment So... Mormons? (Score -1, Troll) 91
Does this mean that the native Africans from the fossil records didn't come along after the white people and kill them?
Mystery of the 'Chupacabra' May Be Solved 94
rhettb writes "The mystery of the legendary chupacabra, a beast said to drain the blood of domestic animals at night, has been solved, according to a University of Michigan scientist. Biologist Barry O'Connor says that most chupacabra sightings are probably linked to coyotes with mange, a disease caused by the same species of mite that triggers scabies in humans. Severe cases of mange cause hair loss and thickening of skin in wild dogs and can lead to bacterial skin infections that produce a foul odor characteristic of the 'chupacabra.' Wombats and squirrels are also susceptible to mange, suggesting that chupacabra are found in trees and Down Under."
Submission + - Comic Sans Makes You Smarter (bbc.co.uk) 2
H3xx writes: Difficult-to-read fonts make for better learning, according to scientists.
Researchers at Princeton University employed volunteers to learn made-up information about different types of aliens — and found that those reading harder fonts recalled more when tested 15 minutes later. They argue that schools could boost results by simply changing the font used in their basic teaching materials.
The 28 volunteers in the Princeton study were given 90 seconds to try to memorize a list of seven features for three different species of alien. The idea was to re-create the kind of learning in a biology class. Aliens were chosen to be sure that none of the volunteers' prior knowledge interfered with the results.
One group was given the lists in 16-point Arial pure black font, which is generally regarded to be easy and clear to read. The other had the same information presented in either 12-point Comic Sans MS 75% greyscale font or 12-point Bodoni MT 75% greyscale.
Researchers at Princeton University employed volunteers to learn made-up information about different types of aliens — and found that those reading harder fonts recalled more when tested 15 minutes later. They argue that schools could boost results by simply changing the font used in their basic teaching materials.
The 28 volunteers in the Princeton study were given 90 seconds to try to memorize a list of seven features for three different species of alien. The idea was to re-create the kind of learning in a biology class. Aliens were chosen to be sure that none of the volunteers' prior knowledge interfered with the results.
One group was given the lists in 16-point Arial pure black font, which is generally regarded to be easy and clear to read. The other had the same information presented in either 12-point Comic Sans MS 75% greyscale font or 12-point Bodoni MT 75% greyscale.
