Daniel K. Attling - Slashdot User

Submission + - US Gives Mexico Money for Phone/Email Taps

Submitted by MedicinalMan on Tuesday May 29, 2007 @05:13AM

MedicinalMan writes: According to an LA Times piece from Thursday, the US government gave money to Mexico for phone/email tapping. The political implications in Mexico involve the historical relationship of the US and Mexico, and loosening of the Mexican constitution. The implications for Americans however involve potentially skirting 4th Amendment issues by using interception of American/Mexican communication as a basis for warrants issued by American courts. The Supreme Court has ruled that the 4th Amendment only applies to people in the U.S. and the NSA currently has the power (both technologically and legally through FISA) to intercept foreign traffic, but that usually involves national security issues, not "common" prosecution of crimes. With small outlays of $3 million, it seems that it will be relatively simple to monitor Americans from the outside without constitutional protection.

Submission + - "The Sims" to move from PC screen to silve

Submitted by

TheCybernator

on Tuesday May 29, 2007 @04:12AM

TheCybernator writes: "SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — Maybe they can call it "The Sims: The Movie." Electronic Arts Inc. has sold the movie rights for "The Sims," the best-selling computer game, of all time to 20th Century Fox, Variety said on Friday. "The Sims" is one of EA's biggest franchises and, including sequels and expansions such as "The Sims: House Party" and "The Sims: Vacation," has sold nearly 85 million copies since it debuted seven years ago. Oft-described as a "virtual dollhouse," the game puts players in charge of simulated people, helping them make friends, find satisfying jobs and buy household items in order to stay happy. "The Sims has done an interactive version of an old story, which is what it's like to have infinite power and how do you deal with it," the Hollywood industry paper quoted Rod Humble, head of The Sims Studio at EA, as saying. "The Sims" was created by legendary game designer Will Wright, known for his quirky titles that eschew linear storylines in favor of letting players create and explore their own worlds. Variety did not mention financial terms of the deal. Spokesmen for EA and Fox could not immediately be reached for comment. Fox is owned by News Corp.. http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN 2519868120070526"

Submission + - Musicians Can Upload & Sell Music And Take .65

Submitted by

Silent Thunder

on Tuesday May 29, 2007 @03:54AM

Silent Thunder writes: "A new service allow musicians to upload and sell their non-DRM songs on any web site, blog or social network and keep .65 cents per song/download. Seems too generous for the company to make a profit but what the hell, musicians make as little as 4 1/2 cents on iTunes. It does not look like burn lounge's ponzi scheme. If it's real it will rock ~ http://music.goodstorm.com/"

Submission + - Shoot first and focus later camera no Holy Grail

Submitted by

miserableles

on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @07:39AM

miserableles writes: "http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1472.html Despite claims that a shoot first and focus later camera that allows you to refocus a photo after you have taken it is the Holy Grail of photography, this article puts up a good argument as to why it isn't."

Submission + - ISPs cut off P2P video on-demand services

Submitted by Scrumptious on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @07:03AM

Scrumptious writes: CNET is running an article that highlights the problems associated with video on-demand services that rely on P2P technology to distribute content. The article highlights that ISPs who throttle traffic on current generation broadband, and negate network neutrality by using packet shaping technology, are hindering any possible adoption of the services offered nervously by content companies.

Many broadband consumers are unaware of how hindered a service they may receive because of the horrendous constraints enforced by telephone network operators. This was a topic widely covered in 2006 in the US, but is now practiced as a common method within the United Kingdom.

Submission + - Top tech tips for working from home

Submitted by Moore Law on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @06:56AM

Moore Law writes: Friday was national 'work from home' day in the UK and silicon.com marked the occasion by banishing the entire editorial team from the office — making do with home broadband connections and/or wi-fi at the local Starbucks. WFH — as it's known — is more than just a chance to skive at home — according to this columnist, it's also "one way to help cut carbon emissions". But this brave new world of work is not without pitfalls and misconceptions — "working from home, so goes the joke, begins with BBC Breakfast News and ends with The Simpsons... taking in Bargain Hunt, a pub lunch and an afternoon nap along the way"... But there are also plenty of practical matters to consider — as these 10 top tips show.

Submission + - Microsoft: 'XSS exploitable IE-bug is by design'

Submitted by

Robbedoeske

on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @06:50AM

Robbedoeske writes: "Because of broken mimetype sniffing, a completely valid gif- or png-image can be used to run malicious scripts and xss exploits. Microsoft was informed on this matter, but it let us know that this behaviour is by design and won't be fixed untill Internet Explorer 8, somewhere in 2138."

Submission + - Microsoft will not sue over Linux patents

Submitted by San Muel on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @06:22AM

San Muel writes: In an official statement, Microsoft has said it has no immediate plans to sue after alleging patent infringements by open-source vendors for the time being.

"If we wanted to go down that road we could have done that three years ago," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "Rather than litigate, Microsoft has spent the last three years building an intellectual property bridge that works for all parties — including open source — and the customer response has been tremendously positive. Our focus is on continuing to build bridges."

Submission + - Microsoft Won't Sue Over Linux Patents

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21, 2007 @07:51PM

An anonymous reader writes: Redmond has no plans to take open-source vendors to court...for now. From a zdnet story: "If we wanted to go down that road we could have done that three years ago," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "Rather than litigate, Microsoft has spent the last three years building an intellectual property bridge that works for all parties — including open source — and the customer response has been tremendously positive. Our focus is on continuing to build bridges." The infringement allegations, made by Microsoft in a Fortune magazine article, were that free and open-source software violated more than 230 of its patents.

Submission + - Polyethylene Bulletproof Vests better than Kevlar

Submitted by teflonscout on Monday May 21, 2007 @07:44PM

teflonscout writes: When I think of bulletproof vests, the first word that comes to mind is Kevlar. Wired is running a story on Dynema SB61, a bulletproof material that is made of polyethylene. It is a higher grade of the plastic found in Tupperware. The story also mentions the recall of Second Chance bulletproof vests that were made from Zylon, a material that degraded slowly when exposed to moisture. At least one police officer was injured when a bullet penetrated his Zylon vest. Polyethylene is impervious to moisture. The first vests made from this new material are 5mm thick and can stop at 9mm bullet traveling at 1777 feet per second, which is slightly better than other top of the line vests.

Submission + - Piracy Economics

Submitted by Anonymous Coward the younger on Monday May 21, 2007 @06:40PM

Anonymous Coward the younger writes: Mises.org has an article on The Market Functions of Piracy. Including a link to another article about the Ludwig Von Mises Institute's experience with giving things away for free Books, Online and Off.

Surprising Further Evidence for a Wet Mars 192

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday May 21, 2007 @06:25PM from the slippery-when-wet dept.

Riding with Robots writes "When the robotic geologist Spirit found the latest evidence for a wet Mars, 'You could hear people gasp in astonishment,' said Steve Squyres, the lead scientist for the Mars rovers. 'This is a remarkable discovery. And the fact that we found something this new and different after nearly 1,200 days on Mars makes it even more remarkable. It makes you wonder what else is still out there.' The latest discovery, announced today, adds compelling new evidence for ancient conditions that might have been favorable for life, according to the rover team."

Submission + - A great response to Mark Helprin's Copyright Op-Ed

Submitted by gum2me on Monday May 21, 2007 @05:58PM

gum2me writes: Volokh Conspiracy is a law blog with contributors from Law Professors around the country. This post gives a good summary why perpetual intellectual property rights suck, and gives links to even more detailed analyses. It's a quick read that'll edify you.

Go for it http://volokh.com/posts/1179719775.shtml

Submission + - All Your Rights Are Belong to Us

Submitted by

cyrusmack

on Monday May 21, 2007 @05:42PM

cyrusmack writes: "For those of us that thought US copyright law was about the most draconian in the world, we were shocked by today's announcement of a new lobbyist group that wants even stronger copyright law. The group, called the "copyright alliance", features the usual suspects: Microsoft, MAFIAA, Viacom und herr Maus ("Look, it's Walt Disney! Shoot him now!"). Funnily enough, there was no mention of information access rights nor of US copyright law's gross violations of basic human rights. Funny that."

Submission + - Are social networks the new operating systems?

Submitted by social network watch on Monday May 21, 2007 @09:24AM

social network watch writes: Last week, Paypal founder Max Levchin, argued that Microsoft's biggest threat is MySpace, not Google. From InformationWeek: "Social networks, said Levchin, are becoming operating systems in the sense that they create consumer lock-in through control of user data." Now news comes that Facebook will announce a new strategy that will see outside companies being allowed to set-up-shop on the social network so that they can leverage "Facebook users' networks of online friends". Thus turning Facebook into a platform. This is more evidence of what Tim O'Reilly calls 'data as the new Intel Inside' where "the winner will be the company that first reaches critical mass via user aggregation, and turns that aggregated data into a system service." So are social networks like Facebook trying to become the new operating systems?

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