Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Google

SCOTUS Denies Google's Request To Appeal Oracle API Case 181

New submitter Neil_Brown writes: The Supreme Court of the United States has today denied Google's request to appeal against the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's ruling (PDF) that the structure, sequence and organization of 37 of Oracle's APIs (application program interfaces) was capable of copyright protection. The case is not over, as Google can now seek to argue that, despite the APIs being restricted by copyright, its handling amounts to "fair use". Professor Pamela Samuelson has previously commented (PDF) on the implications if SCOTUS declined to hear the appeal. The Verge reports: "A district court ruled in Google's favor back in 2012, calling the API "a utilitarian and functional set of symbols" that couldn't be tied up by copyrights. Last May, a federal appeals court overturned that ruling by calling the Java API copyrightable. However, the court said that Google could still have lawfully used the APIs under fair use, sending the case back to a lower court to argue the issue. That's where Google will have to go next, now that the Supreme Court has declined to hear the issue over copyright itself.

Submission + - Illinois Supreme Court: Comcast Must Identify Anonymous Internet Commenter (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader writes: In 2011, an anonymous person on the internet posted a comment to the Freeport Journal Standard newspaper implying that a local political candidate was pedophile. The candidate, Bill Hadley, took offense to this, and tried to get Comcast to tell him who the commenter was. Comcast refused, so Hadley took it to the courts. The Illinois Supreme Court has now ruled (PDF) that Comcast must divulge the commenter's identity. "Illinois' opinion was based in large part on a pair of earlier, lower-court decisions in the state, which held that the anonymity of someone who makes comments in response to online news stories isn't guaranteed if their opinions are potentially defamatory, according to Don Craven, an attorney for the Illinois Press Association."

Submission + - Amazon Overhauling Customer Reviews (cnet.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Amazon says it's making some big changes to its product review system, one of the most heavily used on the internet and a vital part of Amazon's business. A machine-learning platform will endeavor to select helpful reviews with an emphasis on more recent ones. The average score will change as well: new reviews will be weighted higher than old reviews, as will ones from verified purchases and reviews voted up by other customers. "For example, sometimes a company will make small tweaks to a product or address some customer complaints, though this product isn't officially updated or renamed. With the new system, [Amazon] said, these small modifications should become more noticeable when shoppers are buying products." Because the review system is so important to customers, Amazon will be rolling out changes slowly, and watching for anything that breaks or gets skewed in unexpected ways.

Submission + - Windows 10 Will Be Free To Users Who Test It (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft has been making a big push to change its business model for Windows — likely due to the low/no cost updates you can get for competing operating systems. The company surprised everyone when it said legit copies of Windows 7 and 8 would be supplied with free upgrades, but now they're extending that even further: anyone who tests the Windows 10 Technical Preview will get a free upgrade to the full version of Windows 10 when it comes out. In a blog post, Microsoft's Gabe Aul said, "As long as you are running an Insider Preview build and connected with the MSA you used to register, you will receive the Windows 10 final release build and remain activated. Once you have successfully installed this build and activated, you will also be able to clean install on that PC from final media if you want to start over fresh."
Open Source

Reasons To Use Mono For Linux Development 355

Nerval's Lobster writes: In the eleven years since Mono first appeared, the Linux community has regarded it with suspicion. Because Mono is basically a free, open-source implementation of Microsoft's .NET framework, some developers feared that Microsoft would eventually launch a patent war that could harm many in the open-source community. But there are some good reasons for using Mono, developer David Bolton argues in a new blog posting. Chief among them is MonoDevelop, which he claims is an excellent IDE; it's cross-platform abilities; and its utility as a game-development platform. That might not ease everybody's concerns (and some people really don't like how Xamarin has basically commercialized Mono as an iOS/Android development platform), but it's maybe enough for some people to take another look at the platform.

Submission + - San Francisco Public Schools to Require Computer Science for Preschoolers

theodp writes: Never underestimate the ability of tech and its leaders to create a crisis. The S.F. Chronicle's Jill Tucker reports that the San Francisco School Board unanimously voted Tuesday to ensure every student in the district gets a computer science education, with coursework offered in every grade from preschool through high school, a first for a public school district. Tech companies, including Salesforce.com, as well as foundations and community groups are expected to pitch in funding and other technical support to create the new coursework, equip schools and train staff to teach it. From Resolution No. 155-26A2, In Support of Expanding Computer Science and Digital Learning to All Students at All Schools from Pre-K to 12th Grade: 1. "All students are capable of making sense of computer science in ways that are creative, interactive, and relevant." 2. All students, from pre-K to 12, deserve access to rigorous and culturally meaningful computer science education and should be held to high expectations for interacting with the curriculum." 3. "Students' access to and achievement in computer science must not be predictable on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, language, religion, sexual orientation, cultural affiliation, or special needs." MissionLocal has a two-page SFUSD flyer on the project, which aims to illustrate the "importance of computer science" with the same Code.org jobs infographic that Microsoft used to help achieve its stated goal of creating a national K-12 CS crisis, and demonstrate "disparities in accessing CS education" for SFUSD's 57,000 students with a small-sample-size-be-damned bar chart of the racial demographics of the school district's 209 AP Computer Science participants (181 Asian, 0 African American, 6 Latino, 1 Native American, 14 White, 7 Other).

Submission + - System76 Unveils the Fastest Ubuntu Laptop on the Planet

prisoninmate writes: System76 unveiled today what it would appear to be the fastest and most powerful Ubuntu laptop on the planet, powered by either the Ubuntu 15.04 or Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS Linux operating systems. Dubbed Serval WS, the laptop has been declared by the renown hardware company a pinnacle of performance, enclosed in an exceptionally high-quality finish, with backlit keyboard, and the fastest mobile GPUs from Nvidia. The laptop is available for pre-order starting June 9 and will be shipped in July.

Submission + - Sennheiser Top 50 Contest Closes Registrations On June 11 (rsjonline.com)

johnwilliamss15 writes: German audio company Sennheiser, in partnership with Amazon, launched the first edition of the Sennheiser Top 50 digital contest inviting independent bands from across the country to apply. Winners stand the chance to win some amazing prizes, including an endorser deal for two years by Sennheiser.

Submission + - Developer Exposes Indian Telco's Net Neutrality Violation, Gets Threatened

knightsirius writes: Indian broadband and cellular operator Airtel was discovered to be injecting third-party JavaScript files into web pages delivered over their wireless networks. A developer was viewing the source of his own blog and noticed the additional script when viewed on a Airtel connection. He traced the file back to Flash Networks, an Israel-based company, which specializes in "network monetization" and posted the source on GitHub. Since then, he has received a cease-and-desist from Flash Networks and the code on GitHub has been removed following a DMCA takedown notice.

Readers may remember Airtel from its previous dubious record with network neutrality.

Submission + - Man Almost Loses Job For Being On a Call, While Being On a Conference Call

An anonymous reader writes: It seems like there’s no end to people’s creativity while looking for ways to put their own jobs in jeopardy. For instance, it was only a few days ago that the report of a man losing his job for being too internet savvy, was doing the rounds on the internet.

This time, another guy was guilty of talking on the phone while waiting to start on a conference call with the client. As if that were not enough, the employee proceeded to talk in particular detail about the professional shortcomings of his boss, while on the phone with his friend.

Little did he realise that whatever he was saying to his friend on the phone, could be heard on the other end of the con call by the client, in crystal-like clarity. One would think the employee ought to have had some amount of discretion while doing this, but what made it funnier was the things he said about his boss. Apparently, “My boss knows nothing”, “Apne aap ko bahut intelligent samajhta hai”, “Even our office boy has better brains than him”, and “Uski aadhi salary mein double kaam kar sakta huun” are totally unacceptable things to say.
This description of his boss in graphic detail also made the client think about the employee, his boss and the general workplace-values of the company.

What followed as action against the employee has not been made public. However, a few sources in the company, on the request of anonymity, have said that he’s been let off with a strong warning.
In the light of such incidents, one can’t help but ponder over a few questions.
Are we all careful enough with our conduct in our work spaces? Even, if we are, is it enough to iron-clad our jobs and not be vulnerable to these #LagGayiVaat situations absolutely? And most importantly, what happens if and when we find ourselves in such a soup – what’s the backup plan?

In an age where professional accuracy is almost the norm and any margin for error is received as just mediocre, we must ask ourselves what we can do to keep ourselves from the fright of suddenly losing our jobs.

Submission + - Parachute Fails to Inflate During NASA Test off Kauai

An anonymous reader writes: NASA's test of a Mars landing system came to a end Monday when the saucer-shaped vehicle's parachute tore away after partly unfurling high over the Pacific Ocean. NASA says they will provide more details at a news conference Tuesday. Another parachute failed during a similar test of a new Mars spacecraft last year. "This is exactly why we do tests like this," NASA engineer and LDSD mission commentator Dan Coatta said after the test. "When we're actually ready to send spacecraft to Mars, we know that they are going to work when that big mission is on the line."

Submission + - EasyJet Turning To Drones for Aircraft Inspections

itwbennett writes: Would you trust your aircraft inspection to a drone? Budget airline easyJet is testing just such a system, aimed at reducing the amount of time an aircraft is out of service. Instead of having humans perform on-site visual inspections, the drone will 'fly around an aircraft snapping images, which will then be fed to engineers for analysis.'

Slashdot Top Deals

"Ninety percent of baseball is half mental." -- Yogi Berra

Working...