Comment seriously (Score 1) 108
this is about the most donotwant that i've seen in a while.
Brazilian Court Bans P2P Software 216
Earlier this year, at the behest of an anti-piracy group consisting of the usual suspects from the recording industry, a Brazilian court ruled that a company named Cadare Information Technology must implement a filter on the P2P software they distributed on their website to weed out copyrighted content. Cadare was unable comply with the order because they didn't develop the software; they merely offered it for download. The case went back to court, and a Brazilian judge has now decided to ban distribution of the software because it can be used to assist copyright infringement. "He went on to suggest that any website offering the software alongside advertising (i.e, trying to profit from offering it) would be committing a crime, punishable by between two and four years in jail."
Comment great! (?) (Score 1) 67
so we should expect to see yet more encouragement of people to take the easy way out and not behave like responsible human beings? yes. i'm totally ignoring people predisposed to obesity due to genetic ailments.
but really. now that we have this information (and great though it is), what are the ramifications? subsidized liposuction? do what you want, don't pay for it with your health (at least up front), and everything's cool?
iPod Fee Proposed For Canada 414
innocent_white_lamb writes "The Canadian Private Copying Collective is pushing for the implementation of an iPod fee in Canada to compensate them for 'losses' when people copy music to their digital music players. They have collected a fee from every CDR sold in Canada since 1997 and now want to extend that to digital music players. From the article: 'Some have argued that once they buy a CD they shouldn't have to pay again and again to listen to those songs — which they already purchased — on a personal compilation CD or on their MP3 player. But for people like Milman and Basskin, it's about recognizing the value of those works. "There has to be some sort of way to compensate the artist for the hours and the sweat and the blood and the tears and the extreme, extreme expense that goes into making music," Milman said.'"
Comment Re:Lets try to be a bit more supportive here! (Score 1) 487
i don't disagree fully, but the difference here is that it's a business. if someone came out and said here's a $2m storage array for your house(!), we'd all scream and laugh and point fingers.
since it's a business, and (especially in this case) the storage array in question is a basic and required tool for the business to function, it doesn't seem to make sense for them to skimp on it.
what they came up with is cool. but that's not the issue. the issue is yet another (in this case small/startup) company saying "we're going to do X!!!" and then realizing "oh, shit it costs how much to do X right?" and then saying "fuck it here's some hard drives*".
* can be substituted for pirated copies of whatever software, PDF creator when they need Acrobat Pro, or whatever skimpy solution many companies employ because they're not willing to shell out the $$ for the cost of doing business.
since it's a business, and (especially in this case) the storage array in question is a basic and required tool for the business to function, it doesn't seem to make sense for them to skimp on it.
what they came up with is cool. but that's not the issue. the issue is yet another (in this case small/startup) company saying "we're going to do X!!!" and then realizing "oh, shit it costs how much to do X right?" and then saying "fuck it here's some hard drives*".
* can be substituted for pirated copies of whatever software, PDF creator when they need Acrobat Pro, or whatever skimpy solution many companies employ because they're not willing to shell out the $$ for the cost of doing business.
Comment so who's taking bets (Score 1) 487
who's taking bets on how long it takes them to bight the bullet and shell out the cash for a netapp, emc, ibm, hp or other true SAN?
there are reasons that companies pay large sums of money for them. it's not because the *can* or because the *want to*.
one day they'll realize this.
there are reasons that companies pay large sums of money for them. it's not because the *can* or because the *want to*.
one day they'll realize this.
NASA May Outsource 219
The Wall Street Journal is running a piece about the growing momentum behind the idea of NASA outsourcing to private companies everything from transporting astronauts to ferrying cargo into orbit. Quoting: "Proposals gaining momentum in Washington call for contractors to build and run competing systems under commercial contracts, according to federal officials, aerospace-industry officials and others familiar with the discussions. While the Obama administration is still mulling options and hasn't made any final decisions, such a move would represent a major policy shift away from decades of government-run rocket and astronaut-transportation programs such as the current space-shuttle fleet. ... In the face of severe federal budget constraints and a burgeoning commercial-space industry eager to play a larger role in exploring the solar system and perhaps beyond, ...a consensus for the new approach seems to be building inside the White House as well as [NASA]. ... Under this scenario, a new breed of contractors would take over many of NASA's current responsibilities, freeing the agency to pursue longer-term, more ambitious goals such as new rocket-propulsion technology and manned missions to Mars. ...[T]hese contractors would take the lead in servicing the International Space Station from the shuttle's planned retirement around 2011 through at least the end of that decade."
First American Internet Addiction Treatment Center 278
An anonymous reader writes "Taking their lead from China, two Americans have opened the first US-based Internet Addiction treatment center in Fall City, Wash. — ironically close to Redmond (Microsoft's hometown). The center, called reStart: Internet Addiction Recovery Program, is a 45-day treatment center where, for a steep set of fees, people can be cured of their addiction to the Web. After paying the $200 application fee, addicts are charged $14,500 for the 45 days, an additional $800 for a screening, and more for extra services, like kayaking ($1,575)."
US Life Expectancy May Have Peaked 1053
Hugh Pickens writes "Live Science reports that although life expectancy in the United States has risen to an all-time high of 77.9 years in 2007 up from 77.7 in 2006, gains in life expectancy may be pretty much over, as some groups — particularly people in rural locations are already stagnating or slipping in contrast to all other industrialized nations. Hardest hit are regions in the Deep South, along the Mississippi River, in Appalachia and also the southern part of the Midwest reaching into Texas. The culprits — largely preventable with better diet and access to medical services — are diabetes, cancers and heart disease caused by smoking, high blood pressure and obesity. What the new analysis reveals is the reality of two Americas, one on par with most of Europe and parts of Asia, and another no different than a third-world nation with the United States placing 41st on the 2008 CIA World Factbook list, behind Bosnia but still edging out Albania. 'Beginning in the early 1980s and continuing through 1999 those who were already disadvantaged did not benefit from the gains in life expectancy experienced by the advantaged, and some became even worse off,' says a report published in PLoS Medicine by a team led by Harvard's Majid Ezzati, adding that 'study results are troubling because an oft-stated aim of the US health system is the improvement of the health of "all people, and especially those at greater risk of health disparities.'"
Network Adapter Keeps Talking While a PC Is Asleep 188
Al writes "Researchers at Microsoft and the University of California, San Diego have developed a network adapter that lets a computer enter sleep mode without disrupting the network connection. The adapter, dubbed Somniloquy (meaning to talk in one's sleep), consists of a gumstix running embedded Linux, 64MB of RAM and a 2G SD memory card, connected via USB. The adapter keeps the network connection going and the researchers have also developed a simplified IM client and bittorrent client that carry out more complicated tasks autonomously, only waking the computer if, for example, an actualy IM is received or a download is completed."
Neural Networks-Equipped Robots Evolve the Ability To Deceive 116
pdragon04 writes "Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have found that robots equipped with artificial neural networks and programmed to find 'food' eventually learned to conceal their visual signals from other robots to keep the food for themselves. The results are detailed in a PNAS study published today."
Is Typing Ruining Your Ability To Spell? 494
NSN A392-99-964-5927 writes "My handwriting abilities have deteriorated over the years. Putting a real pen to paper, I get frustrated over how to spell correctly, as I am so accustomed to using a keyboard and knowing where the letters are. Having spoken to a few friends, I've found that this has become apparent to them, too. I've noticed that my grammar is also affected; maybe this is because I spent too much time on IRC and lowered my standards. Hand-written words are now becoming obsolete. There is often no need to think about writing anymore, or about how something is spelled. Are other Slashdotters having the same problem? (I'm used to Telex machines, which should give you an indication of how old I am.)"
How To Build a 100,000-Port Ethernet Switch 174
BobB-nw writes "University of California at San Diego researchers Tuesday are presenting a paper (PDF) describing software that they say could make data center networks massively scalable. The researchers say their PortLand software will enable Layer 2 data center network fabrics scalable to 100,000 ports and beyond; they have a prototype running at the school's Department of Computer Science and Engineering's Jacobs School of Engineering. 'With PortLand, we came up with a set of algorithms and protocols that combine the best of layer 2 and layer 3 network fabrics,' said Amin Vahdat, a computer science professor at UC San Diego. 'Today, the largest data centers contain over 100,000 servers. Ideally, we would like to have the flexibility to run any application on any server while minimizing the amount of required network configuration and state... We are working toward a network that administrators can think of as one massive 100,000-port switch seamlessly serving over one million virtual endpoints.'"
Comment why should they? (Score 1) 730
why should they have the keys to the city? who are they? what do you know about them? unless there are legal, binding contracts, NDAs, and more in place, why not require that they earn remote access rights?
also, if you are looking for someone to be your local net admin, why are you considering companies that will only do it remotely?
also, if you are looking for someone to be your local net admin, why are you considering companies that will only do it remotely?
Twitter Offline Due To DDoS 398
The elusive Precision dropped a submission in my lap about a DDoS taking down Twitter running on CNet. It's been down for several hours, no doubt wreaking havoc on the latest hawtness in social networking. Won't someone please think of the tweeters? Word is that both Facebook & LiveJournal have been having problems this AM as well.
