Comment Re:Drawing weapons (Score 1) 630
Times have changed. If you did that today, you'd be off to jail.
Comment electronics and chemicals!? c'mon (Score 1) 630
Chemicals and Electronic parts that when mixed together can create an explosion? Gee... lets see, 90% of geeks have an Arduino and some Vinegar and baking soda in their homes. Hell, the police could call a light bulb and electronic part. Or what about your cell-phone?
A knee-jerk reaction to a kid drawing pictures of what appeared to be a gun? I'd hate to see what happens to the kid who draws a picture of the latest Halo video game.
NYPD To Identify 'Deranged' Gunmen Through Internet Chatter 292
Hugh Pickens writes "Michael Wilson writes in the NY Times that top intelligence officials in the New York Police Department are looking for ways to target 'apolitical or deranged killers before they become active shooters' using techniques similar to those being used to spot terrorists' chatter online. The techniques would include 'cyber-searches of language that mass-casualty shooters have used in e-mails and Internet postings,' says Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. 'The goal would be to identify the shooter in cyberspace, engage him there and intervene, possibly using an undercover to get close, and take him into custody or otherwise disrupt his plans.' There are also plans to send officers to Newtown and to scenes of other mass shootings to collect information says the department's chief spokesman Paul. J. Browne adding that potential tactics include creating an algorithm that would search online 'for terms used by active shooters in the past that may be an indicator of future intentions.' The NYPD's counter-terrorism division released a report last year, 'Active Shooter (PDF),' after studying 202 mass shooting incidents. 'So, we think this is another logical step,' says Kelly."
Comment Re:All this misinformation re GPL makes me sad... (Score 1) 371
My understanding, based upon reading the GPL was that distributors were only responsible to those they've distributed the binary to, not the whole world. This seems to also be the stance taken by AnDosBox (another android dosbox clone), who distribute the sources only to their customers.
I believe DosBox Turbo to be in full compliance with the GPL. IANAL... and I'll admit its possible I could be wrong, so I am going to begin distributing the sources with the binary starting with the next release to be absolutely sure. Please give me a week or so to compile the new APK and upload the release.
Comment Re:Pay the $3.99 (Score 5, Informative) 371
The GPLv2 is not deficient in the manner you claim, at least in this case. This is a commercial distribution in a binary form, which means section 3(c) cannot apply. If installing the binary form also installs the complete corresponding source code, then the distributor satisfies section 3(a). If it does not, he must comply with section 3(b), which allows any third party to request the (complete corresponding) source code. The implication from the article summary is that 3(b) does apply, and that $3.99 is more than the "cost of physically performing source distribution" -- a blank CD plus US postage for same is certainly less than that.
I, for one, am not willing to pay $3.99 for an experiment where the outcome seems so likely to be unrewarding. I would guess that the source code would be incomplete and/or would not correspond to the version that one can get through Google Play, and that the distributor would also claim a GPLv2-incompatible license for some of the Android-specific bits. Because I do not hold a copyright that would be infringed in such a case, it is not worth my time or money to confirm my guess. Even if that guess were wrong, I would not get $3.99 worth of value from either the source or binary form of the app.
The source I've distributed to my end users includes all the necessary Android-specific bits to compile a working executable just like the one in the Google play store.
Comment Re:Pay the $3.99 (Score 4, Informative) 371
So, I did pay the $3.99 for DOSBox Turbo, installed it on my phone, and moved it to the SD card. When mounting that as a disk drive, the only thing I can see related to "dosbox" is
If you purchased DosBox Turbo from the Google Play store, click on the link next to the app icon and send me a request for the source (if you haven't already done so). I'm currently away from my main desk; however, I will get your request processed within 24 hours.
Comment I am the author of DosBox Turbo (Score 5, Informative) 371
Thanks for the very lively and interesting discussion. The OP e-mailed a few days ago asking for the source code for DosBox Turbo. I informed him that I make available the source code to my users whom I've distributed a binary to and that the GPL specifically allows for this. I also make available the source code to the upsteam DosBox devs, and forwarded them copies not too long ago. Furthermore, I've contacted the aDosBox devs and offered to port many of my improvements into the free aDosBox software for everyone to benefit. I've never heard back from the aDosBox devs, and I am assuming it is a dead project, as there has been no activity in over a year and no response to my messages in over 4 months.
While I respect the OP's opinion that (actual price on Google play is $3.49) is too much to pay (don't forget Google takes 30% off the top), the reality is, a majority of my time is spent providing user support, fixing bugs in various Android devices that my users have, and implementing new features and suggestions from my user-base. I've amassed a collection of no less than 8 different Android devices, so that I can reproduce a wide range of reported bugs.
The OP and I may disagree on what my time is worth; however, we did have a constructive discussion about perhaps moving to a model of charging for the value add-ons (which I currently provide for free), although, I'm not sure how easy that would be within the Google Play framework. I also suggested to him that there were numerous avenues for him to obtain a copy of the binary free of charge if price was a factor (one only has to search the various Android warez sites) and that I had no problems with him going that route.
While the OP may disagree with me, I believe that being able to charge for GPL software (and comply with the GPL) allows for development of better software with features and bug fixes that would normally never occur. Believe me, it is very time-consuming to sit around for hours answering user e-mails, or spending hours to fix hard to reproduce bugs that occur only on a specific version of Android or a specific device. Few, if any people, would do that kind of tedious work for free.
Submission + - NASA discovers most distant galaxy in known universe (www.cbc.ca)
An anonymous reader writes: From cbc.ca: "NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes (not to be outdone by the Kepler Space Telescope) have discovered the most distant galaxy identified so far in the universe... the galaxy is 13.3 billion light years away and only a tiny fraction of the size of the Milky Way. Due to the time it takes light to travel through space, the images seen from Earth now show what the galaxy looked like when the universe was just 420 million years old, according to a press statement released from NASA. The newly discovered galaxy (is) named MACS0647-JD"
Submission + - How to make a DVD-rental store more relevant? 5
smi.james.th writes: Here on Slashdot, the concept that older models of business need to be updated to keep with the times is often mentioned. A friend of mine owns a DVD rental store, and he often listens to potential customers walk out, saying that they'd rather download the movie, and not because his prices are unreasonable. With the local telco on a project to boost internet speeds, my friend feels as though the end is near for his livelihood. So, Slashdotters, I put it to you: What can a DVD store owner do to make his store more relevant? What services would you pay for at a DVD store?
Submission + - How Free Speech Died on Campus 1
theodp writes: The WSJ catches up with FIRE's Greg Lukianoff and his crusade to expose how universities have become the most authoritarian institutions in America. In Unlearning Liberty, Lukianoff notes that baby-boom Americans who remember the student protests of the 1960s tend to assume that U.S. colleges are still some of the freest places on earth. But that idealized university no longer exists. Today, university bureaucrats suppress debate with anti-harassment policies that function as de facto speech codes. FIRE maintains a database of such policies on its website. What they share, lifelong Democrat Lukianoff says, is a view of 'harassment' so broad and so removed from its legal definition that 'literally every student on campus is already guilty.'
Comment Children and atheism (Score 1) 1142
I've heard you say, more than once, teaching religion to children is akin to child-abuse. I'm in agreement; however, having two young children who've had to deal with the death of their grandparents and some older relatives. I'll admit, that after their grandmother passed, I told my children that she was in heaven, as it seemed to ease their pain and the emotional sadness of her passing. As a father, an atheist and scientist, I often have conflicting opinions as to what I should tell my children about our mortality and that of their relatives. I want to tell them the truth, but the truth is, life is harsh and death is the end. What would you tell a young child about their recently deceased grandmother, and if you were to tell them that she is not in heaven, would you consider that less emotionally abusive to the child than lying to them?
Gas Prices Jump; California Hardest Hit 402
New submitter jefery23 writes with this excerpt from an Associated Press article (as carried by the Denver Post): "Californians woke up to a shock Friday as overnight gasoline prices jumped by as much as 20 cents a gallon in some areas, ending a week of soaring costs that saw some stations close and others charge record prices." Friday's jump followed another big one just a day earlier, too. Texas gas prices have gone up, but not quite so dramatically ($3.59 at the station nearest to me); how are they in your neck of the woods? Those Bloom boxes and charging stations can't arrive too soon.
Submission + - Google Street View Now Goes Underwater (vice.com)
pigrabbitbear writes: "It’s happened to everyone. You’re walking around a coastal town using Google Maps to navigate your way from one sandy street to another. (Clearly, you’re not an iPhone 5 user.) Then, maybe you head down to the beach to check out the sand castles and sunbathers, and your futuristic handheld interactive map tells you that there’s an awesome coral reef just a few yards out into the water. But you can’t very well just wade into the water with your pocket computer. It would get ruined! How are you supposed to see the sea turtles and gaze at the brain coral? Looks like Google Maps has lead you down a dead end street."
Submission + - Facebook denies leak of users' private messages
silentbrad writes: The CBC (among others) reports: "A Facebook spokesperson is denying reports that private messages sent by users on the social networking site have become public. The purported glitch began generating attention Monday after French newspaper Metro reported that private messages dating from 2007 to 2009 had become accessible to friends and acquaintances on their profile pages. Other newspapers across the country began reporting similar incidences, citing reports from the site's users. The issue may be related to Facebook moving to its Timeline layout worldwide. ... The company issued a statement in response, saying: "A small number of users raised concerns after what they believed to be private messages appeared on their timeline. Our engineers investigated these reports and found that the messages were older wall posts that had always been visible on the users' profile pages. Facebook is satisfied that there has been no breach of user privacy." TechCrunch.com wrote that there was no evidence the messages in question had been private, and posted an explanation from a company spokesperson. "Every report we’ve seen, we’ve gone back and checked. We haven’t seen one report that’s been confirmed [of a private message being exposed]. A lot of the confusion is because before 2009 there were no likes and no comments on wall posts. People went back and forth with wall posts instead of having a conversation [in the comments of single wall post.]“
Submission + - Using lasers, researchers were able to take over the worm's brain (harvard.edu)
An anonymous reader writes: In the quest to understand how the brain turns sensory input into behavior, Harvard scientists have crossed a major threshold. Using precisely targeted lasers, researchers have been able to take over a tiny animal’s brain, instruct it to turn in any direction they wish, and even implant false sensory information, fooling the animal into thinking food was nearby.
