Comment Re:Scorched earth (Score 5, Informative) 634
It is not illegal to download shareware. It has been shareware since 1991.
Comment Re:The mouse... (Score 1) 414
I agree, touch screens on mobile devices are popular because there is such limited realestate on a handheld device a touch screen may be the best way to make use of it.
M$ seems to be banking on touch screens becoming popular on desktops, it will be another failure for them:
1. They have had touch screens out for years... i used one 15 years ago on a museum field trip at an info kiosk, your finger was like a mouse.
2. Current monitors work great. People hated vista because they had to upgrade hardware unnecessarily. What about having to upgrade your monitor for Windows 7.
3. (least important) Fingerprints.
4. (most important) It doesn't ergonomically make sense. Using a touchscreen on a desktop, you are basically holding your arm out in midair... if you try to hold your arm out in front of you for 8 hours you will be sore by minute 5.
Q: what about ms surface? the touch screen can be built into your desk.
A: As if that ergonomically makes sense either, no one wants to be hunched over a touch screen for 8-12 hour days.
M$ seems to be banking on touch screens becoming popular on desktops, it will be another failure for them:
1. They have had touch screens out for years... i used one 15 years ago on a museum field trip at an info kiosk, your finger was like a mouse.
2. Current monitors work great. People hated vista because they had to upgrade hardware unnecessarily. What about having to upgrade your monitor for Windows 7.
3. (least important) Fingerprints.
4. (most important) It doesn't ergonomically make sense. Using a touchscreen on a desktop, you are basically holding your arm out in midair... if you try to hold your arm out in front of you for 8 hours you will be sore by minute 5.
Q: what about ms surface? the touch screen can be built into your desk.
A: As if that ergonomically makes sense either, no one wants to be hunched over a touch screen for 8-12 hour days.
Comment on Friday December 12, 2008 @01:02AM (Score 0, Offtopic) 356
what is with all the references to on Friday December 12, 2008 @01:02AM on the front page?
Nintendo Slapped With Wiimote Strap Lawsuit Once Again 356
GameCyteSean writes "GameCyte is reporting that a new class-action lawsuit has challenged Nintendo's Wiimote straps once more. Interestingly, the suit was filed by the same lawyer who led the original 2006 attempt, and now argues that Nintendo hid records of broken TVs from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. From the article: 'This doesn't seem like a spurious accusation, either. Attached to the court filing (PDF) as a matter of public record is the very evidence Nintendo allegedly tried to hide: actual, internal Nintendo documents (PDF) where customer service reps received complaints of cracked televisions and broken Wiimote straps — and the corresponding Monthly Reports that Nintendo was compelled to file with the CPSC as part of their agreement.'"
Ericsson and Intel Offer Remote Notebook Lockdown 105
MojoKid writes "Ericsson and Intel have announced that they are collaborating on a way to keep your laptop's contents safe when your laptop goes MIA. Using Intel's Anti-Theft Technology — PC Protection (Intel AT-p) and Ericsson's Mobile Broadband (HSPA)
modules,
lost or stolen laptops can be remotely locked down. Similar to Lenovo's recently announced Lockdown Now PC technology, the Ericsson-Intel technology uses SMS messages sent directly to a laptop's mobile broadband chip. Once the chip receives the lock-down message, it passes it to the Intel AT-p function, which is integrated into Intel's Centrino 2 with vPro technology platform. Unlike Lenovo's anti-theft solution, the Ericsson module includes GPS functionality as well."
"Cyber Monday" Expected To Draw Virtual Crowds 133
Anti-Globalism writes with this excerpt from PCWorld:
"Last year, consumers spent $733 million on Cyber Monday, and it's expected to be even bigger this year. According to a survey by online shopping site Shopzilla for the National Retail Federation's Shop.org, nearly 84 percent of online retailers plan to have a Cyber Monday promotion on December 1. That's up from just 72 percent last year and zero percent in 2005, says Shop.org executive director Scott Silverman."
Scientists Identify a Potentially Universal Mechanism of Aging 359
cybergenesis2008 points us to a summary of research out of Harvard Medical School in which a set of genes known to affect aging in yeast was found to affect aging in mice as well. The genes, called sirtuins, perform two particular tasks; regulating which genes are "on" and "off," and also helping to repair damaged DNA. As an organism ages, the frequency of damage to DNA increases, leaving less time for the sirtuins' regulatory tasks. The increasingly unregulated genes then become a significant factor in aging. Realizing this, the researchers "administered extra copies of the sirtuin gene [to the mice], or fed them the sirtuin activator resveratrol, which in turn extended their mean lifespan by 24 to 46 percent." We discussed the plans for this research a few years ago.
Arranging Electronic Access For Your Survivors? 335
smee2 writes "In the past, when a family member died, you could look through their files and address books to find all the people and businesses that should be notified that the person is deceased. Now the hard-copy address book is becoming a thing of the past. I keep some contact information in a spreadsheet, but I have many online friends that I only have contact with through web sites such as Flickr. My email accounts have many more people listed than my address book spreadsheet. I have no interest in collecting real world info from all my online contacts. The sites where I have social contact with people from around the world (obviously) require user names and passwords. Two questions: 1. How do you intend to let the executors of your estate or family members know which online sites/people you'd like them to notify of your demise? 2. How are you going to give access to the passwords, etc. needed to access those sites in a way that doesn't cause a security concern while you're still alive?"
New Nanotech Fabric Never Gets Wet 231
holy_calamity writes "New Scientist reports on a simple coating for polyester that renders it unwettable — even after two months underwater it emerges dry to the touch. Water cannot attach to the new fabric thanks to nanostructured filaments and a structure that traps a constant air layer. One potential use is for low-drag swim wear."
Comment Shift to the Advertising model (Score 1) 729
It is a never a 'race to zero', it is a shift from the pre-paid model, to and advertising model.
I played many side scrolling shooters in the dos era. Now those games for children are built in flash, and available on the web, and are supported by ads or adsense filled pages.
Many open source project websites, are ad supported, so there still is revenue. Mozilla Firefox an open source browser rakes in $75 million a year through ad related revenue.
I played many side scrolling shooters in the dos era. Now those games for children are built in flash, and available on the web, and are supported by ads or adsense filled pages.
Many open source project websites, are ad supported, so there still is revenue. Mozilla Firefox an open source browser rakes in $75 million a year through ad related revenue.
CRTC Rules Bell Can Squeeze Downloads 245
pparsons writes "Bell Canada Inc. will not have to suspend its practice of 'shaping' traffic on the Internet after a group of companies that resell access to Bell's network complained their customers were also being negatively affected. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission today released a decision that denied the Canadian Association of Internet Providers' request that Bell be ordered to cease its application of the practice to its wholesale customers."
HP's Fury At Vista Capable Downgrade 499
More documents are coming out in court proceedings over the Vista Capable debacle. Internetnews.com has good coverage of HP's fury over Microsoft lowering the requirements for a Vista Capable sticker, at Intel's request. "Intel officials may have been pleased that Microsoft lowered standards for obtaining the company's Windows Vista Capable logo program sticker, but the same can't be said about HP's execs. 'I can't be more clear than to say you not only let us down by reneging on your commitment to stand behind the [device driver model] requirement, you have demonstrated a complete lack of commitment to HP as a strategic partner and cost us a lot of money in the process,' said one e-mail from Richard Walker, the senior vice president of HP's consumer business unit, to [Microsoft executives]." PCPro.co.uk follows the trail of accusatory emails inside Microsoft from there: "HP's email prompted then Microsoft co-President, Jim Allchin, to send a furious email of his own to company CEO Steve Ballmer. Allchin's email suggests the decision to lower the requirements was made in his absence by Ballmer, following 'a call between you and Paul [Otellini, Intel CEO].' 'I am beyond being upset here,' Allchin wrote to Ballmer. 'What a mess. Now we have an upset partner, Microsoft destroyed credibility [sic], as well as my own credibility shot.' Ballmer, in turn, blamed another Microsoft executive, Will Poole, in a rather erratically typed reply to Allchin."
Stallman Unsure Whether Firefox Is Truly Free 905
Slatterz writes "Among the theories Stallman bandies about in this Q&A are: Facebook may not share private data with the CIA, Firefox isn't really 'free software,' and his dreams of a day where nobody is involved in developing or promoting proprietary software. Agree or disagree?"
Science's Alternative To an Intelligent Creator 683
Hugh Pickens writes "Discover magazine has an interesting article on the multiverse theory — a synthesis of string theory and the anthropic principle that explains why our universe seems perfectly tailored for life without invoking an intelligent creator. Our universe may be but one of perhaps infinitely many universes in an inconceivably vast multiverse. While most of those universes are barren, some, like ours, have conditions suitable for life. The idea that the universe was made just for us — known as the anthropic principle — debuted in 1973 when Brandon Carter proposed that a purely random assortment of laws would have left the universe dead and dark, and that life limits the values that physical constants can have. The anthropic principle languished on the fringes of science for years, but in 2000, new theoretical work threatened to unravel string theory when researchers calculated that the basic equations of string theory have an astronomical number of different possible solutions, perhaps as many as 101,000, with each solution representing a unique way to describe the universe. The latest iteration of string theory provides a natural explanation for the anthropic principle. If there are vast numbers of other universes, all with different properties, at least one of them ought to have the right combination of conditions to bring forth stars, planets, and living things." So far xkcd is simulating just one single universe.
Canadian Fined For Videoing Movie In Theatre 382
canadian_right writes "A Calgary man was fined $1,495 and banned from theaters for a year in the first conviction under a new Canadian law making recording a movie in a theater a crime. Until the new law took effect in 2007, prosecutors had to show evidence of distribution to get a conviction; now, recording without permission is sufficient. The Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association was disappointed that jail time was not given." The man was also banned for a year from possessing any video recording equipment, even a video-capable cellphone, outside of his home.
