Comment Got it all (Score 4, Funny) 30
...skirt...erector...truss...on the floor...shipping to Texas...the Cape
What more could you want?
Submission + - Last Updated: Monday, 1 October 2007, 10:45 GMT (bbc.co.uk)
Kangburra writes: The BBC has a story that Radiohead fans will be able to choose how much to pay for the band's next album, In Rainbows, which is available for download on 10 October.
Instead of listing a price for the music, the group's website simply states "it's up to you" — and then adds: "No really, it's up to you."
This will be Radiohead's seventh album, but they are not using a record label, having fulfilled their contract with EMI following their 2003 album Hail to the Thief.
Instead of listing a price for the music, the group's website simply states "it's up to you" — and then adds: "No really, it's up to you."
This will be Radiohead's seventh album, but they are not using a record label, having fulfilled their contract with EMI following their 2003 album Hail to the Thief.
Pentagon Developed 'Laughing Bullets' 286
plasmadroid writes "It might sound like a joke, but documents unearthed by New Scientist show that the Pentagon actually funded research into 'non-lethal' bullets that would also hit a target with a dose of laughing gas. That way, they'd not only be stunned but incapacitated by fits of giggles. Another idea was to put stink bombs inside rubber bullets. I guess it would work, but the idea of crowds of rioters giggling uncontrollably while being pelted with rubber bullets is truly bizarre..."
On Diamond-Based Quantum Computing 77
Roland Piquepaille writes "Quantum computing is usually associated with extremely low temperatures. Physicists at Harvard University have shown that diamonds can be used to create stable quantum computing building blocks at room temperature. A nitrogen vacancy in diamond could lead to quantum registers able to store or retrieve data. '"The problem is, what makes single nuclear spin so stable - its weak interaction with its surroundings - also prevents us from directly manipulating it," Lukin says. "How do you control something that can't interact with anything?" You do it gingerly and indirectly, the Harvard physicists report in Science. They found that nuclear spins associated with single atoms of carbon-13 - which make up some 1.1 percent of natural diamond - can be manipulated via a nearby single electron whose own spin can be controlled with optical and microwave radiation.'"
Submission + - SPAM: Online music; What the Music Industry Doesn't Want
Brian Beshore writes: "Online music. It's a revolution. Everyone knows about it. What you mainly hear about, however, is what the big record companies have to say about
online music.
They talk about piracy, and what do they say about that?
They say 'it's not fair to the artist!' 'You're ripping the artist off!' they say. 'The artist is not getting their royalties!'
The big record companies are really concerned about the artists in their stables. Right.
Let's take a look at how record companies 'take care' of their stars.
"According to Ronald Zalkind, in Getting Ahead in the Music Business (Schirmer Books), the expenses an artist incurs for record production often outweigh record royalties:
'Let us now hypothesize an artists with initial record royalties, on the sale of 100,000 units, of $40,600. The artist has a personal manager who gets 20 percent off the top, which reduces the $40,600 figure to $32,480. The average cost of producing an album today (which is what our hypothetical artist ran up at session costs) is $75,000. This means that the artist owes the record company $34,400. Also, the artist receives a $10,000 advance against royalties as bare subsistence income on which federal, state. and local taxes were paid. This raises the artist's outstanding debt, on his first release, to $44,400.
Now, let us suppose that the artist's second album with the record company sells gold: The initial payout, less container charges, is $203,000. The personal manager gets 20 percent, which brings the artist's take down to $162,400. The artist owes $44,400 from the first album, which further reduces the artist's gold record income to $118,000. Finally, the artist spent $100,000 on the second go-round in the studio and took a $15,000 advance. With a gold record on the wall, the artist after two successful album releases, has only earned $3,000.' "
The above quote is from Making Money Making Music (No Matter Where You Live) by James W. Dearing. (Writer's Digest Books)
Is it any wonder that we saw Don Henley appealing to congress about his and other artists recording contracts, saying he felt like an indentured servant.
Is it any wonder that more and more artists are turning to the internet to promote their music.
Even though mostly what we've heard about online music is about the piracy that goes on, and truly this is not right, what we will see more and more of is that online music is where to look for new music.
[spam URL stripped]"
Submission + - Surprise arrest for online Scientology critic
destinyland writes: "An online critic of Scientology was confronted at a routine hearing Tuesday with surprise arrest warrants, and thrown into jail. Six years as a fugitive ended in Feburary. (After picketing a Scientology complex in 2000, he'd been arrested for "threatening a religion" over a Usenet joke about "Tom Cruise Missiles.") But 64-year-old Keith Henson had been out on bail, and was even scheduled to address the European Space Agency conference on Space Elevators. He's a co-founder of the Space Colony movement, and one of the original researchers at Texas Instruments. In this interview he discusses both space-based solar energy and his war with the Scientologists — just a few days before he was arrested and sent to prison."
Submission + - Code posted for Internet Explorer attack
Theslasher writes: The code, which was posted Monday to the Milw0rm.com Web site, exploits a recently patched flaw in Microsoft's browser. It could be used to run unauthorized software on a computer that was not updated with the latest Microsoft patches, security experts warn.
The vulnerability was first discovered by security researcher HD Moore who posted code last July that could be used to crash the browser. Microsoft patched the flaw in February, but some security researchers say that it will get more attention from criminals because of this latest exploit code.
"This type of vulnerability has been very popular with malicious attacks in the past, and we expect to see its usage increase substantially, now that exploit code is publicly available," security vendor Websense. warned in a note published Monday.
Researchers at eEye Digital Security Inc. say the Milw0rm code works on IE6, but not on the latest version of Microsoft's browser.
"We've tested it against IE7 and haven't got it to work yet," said Andre Protas, director of eEye's Preview research service.
Protas said that more reliable exploit code likely will be published in the future.
Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/26/HNieatta ckcodeposted_1.html
The vulnerability was first discovered by security researcher HD Moore who posted code last July that could be used to crash the browser. Microsoft patched the flaw in February, but some security researchers say that it will get more attention from criminals because of this latest exploit code.
"This type of vulnerability has been very popular with malicious attacks in the past, and we expect to see its usage increase substantially, now that exploit code is publicly available," security vendor Websense. warned in a note published Monday.
Researchers at eEye Digital Security Inc. say the Milw0rm code works on IE6, but not on the latest version of Microsoft's browser.
"We've tested it against IE7 and haven't got it to work yet," said Andre Protas, director of eEye's Preview research service.
Protas said that more reliable exploit code likely will be published in the future.
Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/26/HNieatt
Submission + - March 26, 2007 Marks the Nadir of A-Blogging
jg21 writes: ""If an ass peers into a mirror," say the Spanish, "you cannot expect a bishop to peer out." But even so, the revelation today by Kathy Sierra that she has been subjected to threats of violence and sex seemingly as a direct consequence of her being a blogger, and a very popular one, #66 in Technorati's rankings, gives a whole new perspective on the truism that technology will always reflect the failings of human beings. And perhaps even magnify them. Sierra says she's stopping blogging as a result. Robert Scoble, Tim Bray, Daniel Steinberg, and others have all contributed to Kathy's post to offer their sympathies and express their horror. [From Bray's response: "Way, way out of control. The community needs to rally around..."]"
Submission + - GNU/Linux to the masses one step at a time
Anonymous writes: "A common problem with GNU/Linux for new users is not the operating system, but the switch in applications they must undertake to use it. Many who try and make the switch have little experience with the common open source applications available under GNU/Linux. The Kutztown GNU/Linux User Group is helping to change that on a massive scale by converting users at a nearby university on Microsoft Windows machines first. Instead of selling GNU/Linux, the group is selling open source. Faculty at the school have been provided discs containing several popular open source applications compatible with Microsoft Windows in part of a bigger program to get more users to switch operating systems."
Submission + - South Korean Government Blocks Porn Sites
Anonymous Coward writes: "Following the posting of a porn video on Yahoo! Korea widely used video sharing site, the South Korean government has decided to fight back against the spread of pornography on the internet. According to The Age : "The Ministry of Information and Communication already has blocked 211 foreign pornographic Web sites, mostly based in the United States, as well as all local porn sites. It plans to extend the crackdown to another 180 major foreign sites by May." Good luck with that one! Besides the waste of manpower and resources involved in blocking porn sites, there is something profoundly hilarious about this. The South Korean government is trying to plug the hole in the dam with its (sticky) finger.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200703/kt20070 32620151011900.htm
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Technology/South-Kor ea-widens-crackdown-on-foreign-pornography-Web-sit es/2007/03/26/1174761356172.html"
Submission + - There's not much C in Ribena
Bugbear1973 writes: "Global drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline faces a court case today for misleading advertising after two 14-year-olds from New Zealand found its popular blackcurrant drink Ribena contained almost no vitamin C.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/schoolgirls-fi nd-theres-no-c-in-ribena/2007/03/27/1174761419393. html
OK, so it's a bit off topic but don't you just love seeing the 'man' get stung..."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/schoolgirls-f
OK, so it's a bit off topic but don't you just love seeing the 'man' get stung..."
Submission + - Vista copying bug
Submission + - New Toshiba Laptops Do Not Have XP Drivers
An anonymous reader writes: I thought I got a great deal on a toshiba Dual Core 1.6ghz Model A135-S2276 Laptop. It came with Vista Home Basic. I went to toshiba's web site the only drivers they have are vista drivers. I went to 4 other simular module with close to the same hardware configuration the same thing only vista drivers. I called tech support there like don't you want to run Vista. I said if the laptop only runs vista why doesnt it say it on the box. They said they will probably put up XP drivers but it soundly like they are in no big hurry. I told them toshiba should not decide what OS I should run on my laptop. They gave me a case # and told me to have a nice day. And this was not tech support from India. Jeez I should have bought an HP. I expected to see Windows XP drivers is Microsoft behind this or is this just toshiba being stupid?
Online Higher Education in Second Life? 67
XxtraLarGe asks: "As both a technician for my college's Distance Learning program and as an avid gamer, I have been tasked with investigating Second Life as a possible way for us to extend and enhance our online classes. I've done a lot of research, reading about what other schools have done. While I personally think it is a really cool idea, I am somewhat skeptical of the actual practicality and value of what seems to be a glorified chat room. I'd like to hear from others about their education experience in Second Life, particularly if you've been involved in setting up any online classes or taken any online classes. What sort of training would be required for the faculty, and is it really worth it?"
Submission + - Community College Chess Team Checkmates Ivys
theodp writes: "Led by a 34-year-old Cuban CS major, the Miami Dade Community College Chess Team heads to the Collegiate Chess Final Four this weekend, having beaten the likes of Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Northwestern to get there (program). For you budget conscious student-chessmasters, tuition and expenses at Harvard top $45,000 compared to less than $2,000 at Miami Dade."
