Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Movies

Submission + - Cloverfield gave me a headache (sffmedia.com)

Submitted by
bowman9991
bowman9991 writes: "I've just watched J. J. Abram's new flick Cloverfield and it's given me a massive headache. SFFMedia reviews the latest science fiction monster movie from J J Abram's and ends up with a sore headThe Blair Witch-style camera movement is claustrophobic, non-stop, and at times unbearable. Just imagine a film you've recorded on your camera equipped mobile phone and then spliced together pretty much randomly on your PC's video editing software, and you'll get the idea. With a running time of only 90 minutes it's very short, perhaps because test audiences were getting extreme motion sickness and had to be sedated. Or maybe the mobile phone's memory card ran out of storage space? When something dramatic happens, which after the first 20 minutes is pretty much the entire movie, the camera goes nuts. The camera operator has probably been locked up by now."

Feed Engadget: Virtual teacher understands your frustration, pours on the homework (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Robots

Okay, so maybe Eve won't really load you down with busywork, but the virtual teacher will sympathize with you, hear you out and alter her teaching style to better match your current mood. Reportedly, the Massey University creation can "pick up body language and facial expressions like a real teacher [in order] to interact and [hold] the attention of students." Additionally, she can ask questions, dole out feedback and discuss problems with pupils, but there's no telling how easily she hands out extra credit. Dr. Hossein Sarrafzadeh, the lead on the project, noted that people should soon expect robots to take note of their feelings and reactions exactly as we expect a fellow human to, but we're left to wonder how many more years our teachers have before they're subbed out en masse for digital replacements.

[Via SmartMobs, image courtesy of Primidi]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
The Internet

Submission + - Bluehost and Copyright/DMCA

Submitted by nnn2007
nnn2007 writes: Without notice Bluehost has shut me down after a banking institute claimed that publishing international banking law violated their (!?) copyright.

Apparently on Thursday (11/29) my hosting service provider bluehost received a request from a banking institute that "ISP 98" be removed.

On my web site on international finance law I had posted a couple of articles I had written and published the underlying laws. Laws is not 100 % accurate since in international finance, there are few conventions (that is government to government agreements to implement the same set of laws) but "international standard practices" (ISP), a set of rules agreed upon by banks and other interested parties, which everybody follows.

When asking bluehost today for technical support (Saturday), they asserted that bluehost's abuse department had contacted me.

Under the phone number on file I have not received any message from bluehost and since the last email I had received from bluehost dates from two weeks back, their technical staff suggested that bluehost had sent the email after they shut me down.

The banking institute never contacted me.

The shutdown means that I cannot access any of my several domains unconnected to the allegedly infringing site or receive email from them.

The request by the banking institute raises an interesting question whether international practices/customs can be copyrighted.
Wireless Networking

Journal Journal: wifi security?

Journal by jaydanie
I decided to check on the wifi router setup in the shop. I mistakenly typed in the wrong ip 192.168.1.1 and got another wifi router login from a linksys unit! Wait a minute, I'm not using a linksys router... Re-checking my connect to "FORDSHOP" to make sure I was connected to the proper network I typed in the correct ip 192.168.2.1 and accessed the myessential's router. Question: Is this a security problem with wifi? How was I able to connect to the wrong router login on a different network ev
Businesses

Submission + - Blizzard and Activision merge (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
Vicksplace
Vicksplace writes: "The companies behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are merging in a deal which could shake up the global video games industry. Activision and Blizzard have said they will form "the world's most profitable games business" in a deal worth $18.8bn (£9.15bn)."
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Ubisoft's Mislabeling Frustrates Gamers--Lawsuit 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It appears someone on Ubisoft's forums has created a post to explore the possibility of a class-action lawsuit against the publisher for misrepresenting the maximum resolution of a game. Ubisoft has also publicly acknowledged the issue in a support article at http://ubisoft.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ubisoft.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=11934&p_created=1183071491&p_sid=AZn3tcSi&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MSwxJnBfcHJvZHM9MTQ4MywxNTM4JnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0yLjE1MzgmcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PTEwODA*&p_li=&p_topview=1. Has a video game publisher ever been sued for mislabeling a game? Granted, it's only a game, but what resource does a gamer/the consumer have when a publisher misleads their customers? Could this be a catalyst the video game industry in paying more attention to the defect levels of their products? The post is at http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8971060175/m/2961038316.
Government

Submission + - Help me fight the swiss dmca. (no-dmca.ch)

Submitted by
pyalot
pyalot writes: "The swiss goverment has passed a law that would make it impossible to cirvumvent effective copy protection measures. I have created a page to inform and organize a resistance against this law. If we collect 50'000 signatures until the 24th of January however, we can force a national vote on this law. Help me in any way that you can fight this law. I was first made aware of this two days ago by this article on slashdot."
Government

Submission + - Government bristling at criticism over sentencing

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: When I first read this, I thought good, they caught the rapists, but punishing the victim? What century do we live in? MSNBC has the whole story.

CAIRO, Egypt — Saudi Arabia is bristling at international criticism over the sentencing of a rape victim to prison and 200 lashes, insisting the West should stay out of its legal system. But the case could empower voices for change in the kingdom's Islamic courts.

The punishment of the "Girl of Qatif" as the rape victim is known, after her hometown in eastern Saudi Arabia was labeled "barbaric" by Canada. In a rare criticism of its Mideast ally, the White House called the Saudi court ruling "outrageous."

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, in the U.S. for a Mideast peace conference, was visibly annoyed.
He should not be annoyed, but embarrassed.

Slashdot Top Deals

The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts. -- Paul Erlich

Close