guisar - Slashdot User

Comment What I posted to their technical "contact" address (Score 3, Insightful) 794

by guisar on Monday August 25, 2008 @10:23PM (#24746237) Attached to: Linux Not Supported For Democratic Convention Video

Is there any reason, any reason whatsoever that you have made your web site and videos inaccessible from anything other than a machine running Microsoft Windows? I had to go over to my neighbours house just to write this. It's ridiculous. When I made a donation to the ACLU earlier, they had no such requirement. I also heard Sen Biden is against network neutrality. Perhaps it's time to pop over to johnmccain.com. I do notice his videos are available in flash which works everywhere. Careful democratic party- you are showing a bit of plumbers crack and revealing your true allegiances. Fix this, fix it now.

Submission + - US demands biometric Passports ?

Submitted by guisar on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @09:52PM

guisar writes: As relayed in the Edmonton Journal, it seems the US may be exerting pressure on other Governments to include biometrics in official IDs. Is this so that the US can justify it's own proposals or are other Governments using the US as a scapegoat? "As the world becomes more complex, and as our expectations with respect to safety and security become greater, governments are going to have to invest in appropriate [measures] ... in order to make sure that people can move freely," That's my favorite quote. The paper seems to be pushing an agenda rather than reacting to a need or perceived need. What, beyond a desire to centralize power and manipulate the populace is driving Governments to even allow such proposals to even be discussed? I would expect this sort of discussion within the United States but am very disappointed to see Canada regarding such notions with anything other than complete and total disgust.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.h tml?id=6d8beaea-454e-4ace-a9e2-444823b13d11&k=7585 3

Submission + - How DRM can save your local Music Store

Submitted by

morlock_man

on Friday April 06, 2007 @09:45PM

morlock_man writes: "Music stores have traditionally been repositories for older formats of media as well as featuring new artists. Using these new distribution formats, these stores can now stock over 10 times as many artists in the same volume of space. And where a customer would previously purchase 1 album for $20, the can now purchase 10 full compilation albums for preview at the same price. Full article."

Submission + - Wired.com says geeks make better lovers

Submitted by

christian.einfeldt

on Friday April 06, 2007 @09:26PM

christian.einfeldt writes: "Let it never be said that geeks are not hot. As in sexy hot. So says none other than sex expert Regina Lynn, the sex-tech goddess who writes Wired.com's weekly 'Sex Drive' column. In this week's installment, Regina explains why geeks can put a new twist on the 'Field of Dreams' quip that 'if you build it, he will come:'

'Don't be surprised if your geek lover puts more thought into arranging the boudoir than you do, or if common household items soon take on a new dimension. More than one geek has told me that Home Depot is their favorite adult store.'
If you can imagine it, you can build it, and who has more fertile imaginations for tool and toy building than Slashdot readers?"

Turkish Assembly Votes For Censoring of Web Sites 247

Posted by Zonk on Friday April 06, 2007 @08:49PM from the we're-actually-really-nice-out-here-guys dept.

unity100 writes "CNN has some news about a recent development in Turkey where the Turkish assembly, totally out of line with Turkey's commitment to EU membership, has voted to have sites that 'insult to the founder of modern Turkey' censored from entire Turkish population. This, just about a month after the decision to censor YouTube was reached by the Turkish courts. 'On Thursday, lawmakers in the commission also debated whether the proposal should be widened to allow the Turkish Telecommunications Board to block access to any sites that question the principles of the Turkish secular system or the unity of the Turkish state -- a reference to Web sites with information on Kurdish rebels in Turkey.'"

Submission + - Apple denies "Big Stevie" isn't watching

Submitted by Webster Phreaky on Friday April 06, 2007 @08:45PM

Webster Phreaky writes: Apple denies Apple TV 'backdoor' claims Apple isn't deleting hacks from the Apple TV, a report explains Macworld staff Apple has denied recent reports that is has enabled a "back-door" into the Apple TV which enables the company to prevent unsupported hacks. A wave of recent reports emerging from hacker websites have claimed that those engaged in attempting to extend the features of the device have seen code they have inserted into the machine disappear overnight, leading to speculation that Apple can return Apple TV units to factory settings. Apple is denying these claims, according to EnGadget. The report explains: "Apple's stance, it claims, is more along the lines of: it's your box, do with it what you please — but be mindful of voiding that warranty." The report suggests that some hacks may not be staying on the machine because the machine isn't built quite the way the hackers think it is at present. (COMMENT): Apple has a MUCH BIGGER Problem, the AppleTV apparently is your typical Apple Buggy Piece of Sh!t according to ALL THE BUG REPORTS on MacFixIt.com ( http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070330 090814465) and Mac Bug reporting sites ( http://www.techedgeezine.com/cartindex.htm )

Submission + - EFF: Patent Busting -- Prior Art Needed for VOIP

Submitted by JumperCable on Friday April 06, 2007 @08:41PM

JumperCable writes: The Electronic Frontier Foundation is seeking to bust an overly broad patent by a company called Acceris. Acceris claims patents on processes that implement voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) using analog phones as endpoints. These patents cover telephone calls over the Internet.

Specifically, the claims describe a system that connects two parties where the receiving party does not need to have a computer or an Internet connection, but the call is routed in part through the Internet or any other "public computer network". The calls must also be "full duplex", meaning that both parties can listen and talk at the same time, like in an ordinary phone call.

To bust these overly broad claims, we need "prior art" — any publication, article, patent or other public writing that describes the same or similar ideas being implemented before September 20, 1995.

Submission + - Current owner of BeOS Code: Zeta is Illegal

Submitted by Hank Powers on Friday April 06, 2007 @08:15PM

Hank Powers writes: The legal status of the Zeta operating system that was derived from the source code Be Inc. left shortly before going bankcrupt has been unclear for several years. Now, the current owner of the source code, ACCESS, claims "if Herr Korz feels that he holds a legitimate license to the BeOS code he's been using, we're completely unaware of it, and I'd be fascinated to see him produce any substantiation for that claim". The sales of Zeta have been suspended and so has the development been halted as well. OSNews has an article about the recent developments.

Submission + - U of A compromised

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @12:24AM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Recently the University of Arizona was hacked and large amounts of student data along with financial information was compromised in the attack. FBI has seized systems and is conducting a full investigation. http://www.fox11az.com/news/topstories/stories/KMS B-20070108-dsbp-uacomputer.1f466f22.html"

Submission + - Analysis of the Apple iPhone

Submitted by Provataki on Tuesday January 09, 2007 @10:23PM

Provataki writes: Now that the initial dust of the iPhone's launch has settled down, here is a no-frills, objective analysis of the iPhone's feature-set and how it compares to other smartphones today. The author seems to like the device a lot and believes that will drive the industry in the coming years, but he also mentions the lack of a native (non-widget) SDK (which is what defines a "smartphone") and the old-style input method used (why didn't Apple go for something as innovative as this?). Stereo Bluetooth A2DP, MMS support and user-replaceable battery (a norm in the cellphone industry) are still a questionmark.

Submission + - Top 10 things to hate about the Apple iPhone

Submitted by

SlinkySausage

on Tuesday January 09, 2007 @10:12PM

SlinkySausage writes: "APC Magazine has looked at Apple's iPhone with a critical eye and spotted 10 areas that are significantly lacking. In summary: slow mobile data, battery life that sucks, non-user replaceable battery, potential for touch screen problems, heavy data usage, last-generation camera, proprietary tie-ins, no video chat, carrier lock-in, and not much storage space for video.

"Don't get me wrong," writes the article's author Dan Warne. "I want an iPhone as badly as the next guy, but in the midst of the gushing hype-stream out there, I'd like to provide a little balance and point out that the iPhone's far from perfect. Is it one of the most technologically advanced phones on the market? Absolutely. Do we live in a perfect world? Of course not. Do I wish Apple had reconsidered a few aspects of the iPhone to make it even better? Yep."

Submission + - International fraud and eBay indifference

Submitted by

RussInSanDiego

on Tuesday January 09, 2007 @08:55PM

RussInSanDiego writes: "How does one go about exposing an ongoing fraud?

To summarize (the gory details are in my web page on the subject), in early December I somehow believed an eBay listing indicating that a guy in Hong Kong (Shenzhen, actually, but that's the least of the lies told) could actually deliver a 4GB MP3/MP4 Nano-clone for $60.

What arrived a few weeks later was a 1GB device whose Master Boot Record had been manipulated so that it reports a capacity of 4GB. There are other deficiencies, but that's the biggest one.

How can this happen? The guy has a 98.6% positive feedback rating!

Well, it's simple. This fellow has stumbled on the perfect scam. He (and his several eBay pseudonyms) sells dozens of these devices per hour, targeting customers around the world, and has done so since at least late November. Customers receive their merchandise, plug it in, and sure enough: Their computer reports that it has the listed capacity of 4GB. They give positive feedback!

Sometime later, when they populate the device, they find that most of the files generate an error when they try to play or retrieve them. Most people blame themselves. Those who do figure out what happened can't revise their positive feedback — it's too late.

What about Paypal Buyer Protection? I put in a claim, but they're throwing up roadblocks. They demand an independent analysis by a qualified party in order to consider a claim. On a cheap device such as this, a qualified engineer's analysis costs far more than the amount to be recovered! I found a qualified friend who corroborated my analysis, and the claim was decided in my favor. Next roadblock? They require me to ship this hacked piece of junk to Hong Kong. And since it's foolish to trust a known thief, I have to ship it trackably (and presumably photograph it going into the box!). That would cost almost as much as I paid the slimeball in the first place. And to put a cherry on top of all this, Paypal claims resolution only says that
...we may be unable to make a full recovery of your payment from the seller.

One would think that eBay/Paypal would be all over this, shutting down what is now an obvious scam. They've been told about it over and over, for weeks. And yet, the fraudsters STILL are selling these hacked devices right now. They rate of sales has increased, if anything! My back of the envelope calculation suggests that they've generated something in the ballpark of US$2M revenues in the last couple of months (36 units per hour x 24 hours x 60 days x $40 per bogus device — and that's just "e-britain". It doesn't include his predecessor, "ugoole", nor the other pseudonyms the guy is doubtlessly using.

A cynic would say that it's not in eBay's interests to shut this operation down. After all, they're collecting listing fees and value fees; and Paypal is collecting its fees. Why shut down the gravy train?

So I'd be interested in any suggestions on how to get the story out there, and how to get eBay/Paypal to prevent more of their customers from being ripped off. Any ideas? (So far, the only idea I've had is to use my daily eBay member contact allotment to let new buyers know what they've just let themselves in for, and who to blame (eBay!)."

Submission + - No electric bill in a year!

Submitted by budgenator on Saturday December 30, 2006 @08:54PM

budgenator writes: Researchers at UNLV's Center for Energy Research Have a low/zero energy house built in the Los Vegas Area that not only doesn't have a bill for electricity used for the year, it has four months worth of credit!
Right now, Nevada Power technically owes UNLV for power it generated for the year, but while the utility acknowledges the credit, Boehm said there will be no refund check in the mail. "But they will bring it (the power bill) down to zero, except for the $6 a month access fee" for using the utility's grid
The house is a test bed for energy conservation and is highly monitored and compared to a near identical but conventional house. Researchers hope to identify the most cost-effective techniques and be able to build low/zero energy home for only 10% more than convention structures. The experiment has finished phase one with limited occupancy and is planned to be treated more like a real home in phase 2. The home used 58% less energy than the baseline home which had $200.00 a month electric bills.

Submission + - Why can't I get a laptop with Linux on it?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 30, 2006 @08:32PM

An anonymous reader writes: I'm in the process of shopping for a new laptop; I want Linux pre-installed, and I especially don't want to have to pay for a Windows license I'll never use. Why is it impossible to get a laptop with Linux pre-installed? Why am I forced to pay for Windows? It makes no sense.

Submission + - Saddam Hanged for War Crimes in Iraq

Submitted by

jimbojw

on Saturday December 30, 2006 @03:01PM

jimbojw writes: "According to an article in the Canadian National Post :
Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq who came to be known as the Butcher of Baghdad, was hanged at dawn today in Baghdad for crimes against humanity committed during a 24-year reign of brutality that ended with the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
The 69-year-old former president was executed at about 6 a.m. in Iraq, marking a violent end to a man notorious for massacring thousands of his people.
"

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