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Comment Re: Do users really care? (Score 2) 278

Oh, shut up already. Not everyone is a 45-year-old neckbeard troll living in their mom's basement with greasy Doritos hands and Mountain Dew stains on their shirts. I know and like my friends since before they joined Facebook. It's outrageously unreasonable to suggest that I ditch them now because they have an account on a website. Surely they don't expect them to judge me on having an account on /. Facebook allows us to communicate on some aspects of our lives, perhaps today most commonly through sharing pictures, much as people used to do with postcards and snail mail. It isn't meant to replace face-to-face conversations. There may be something to be said about people who exclusively rely on Facebook, or who share TMI. But instead of ranting aimlessly like an old fart, I just unsubscribe to their feed. Not everyone can afford or is willing to end friendships based on social network memberships. Facebook's success in particular and the emergence of so many networks in general are evidences to that. Your dogmatic view on social relationships is neither correct nor necessary nor relevant nor required.

Submission + - Top Five Theater Chains Won't Show "The Interview" After Sony Hack

tobiasly writes: "The country's top five theater chains — Regal Entertainment, AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Carmike Cinemas and Cineplex Entertainment — have decided not to play Sony's The Interview . This comes after the group which carried off a massive breach of its networks threatened to carry out "9/11-style attacks" on theaters that showed the film. What should Sony do? Cut their losses and shelve it? Release it immediately online? Does giving in mean "the terrorists have won"?

Submission + - Navy develops a shark drone for surveillance (usatoday.com)

An anonymous reader writes: The Navy is testing a new underwater drone called GhostSwimmer, which is designed to look like a shark and conduct surveillance work.

It is being adapted by the chief of naval operations' Rapid Innovation Cell (CRIC) project, Silent NEMO, in Norfolk, Va.

GhostSwimmer is 5 feet long and weighs almost 100 pounds. It can operate in water depths from 10 inches to 300 feet, and is designed to operate autonomously for long periods of time, according to the Navy.

Submission + - Marissa Mayer's reinvention of Yahoo! stumbles

schnell writes: The New York Times Magazine has an in-depth profile of Marissa Mayer's time at the helm of Yahoo!, detailing her bold plans to reinvent the company and spark a Jobs-ian turnaround through building great new products. But some investors are saying that her product focus (to the point of micromanaging) hasn't generated results, and that the company should give up on trying to create the next iPod, merge with AOL to cut costs and focus on the unglamorous core business that it has. Is it time for Yahoo! to "grow up" and set its sights lower?

Submission + - Magic Leap Hires Sci-Fi Writer Neal Stephenson as Chief Futurist (hacked.com)

giulioprisco writes: Magic Leap, a secretive Florida augmented reality startup that raised $542 million in October, hired renowned science fiction writer Neal Stephenson as its “Chief Futurist.” Stephenson offers hints at the company’s technology and philosophy: "Magic Leap is bringing physics, biology, code, and design together to build a system that is going to blow doors open for people who create things." According to the Magic Leap website, their Dynamic Digitized Lightfield Signal technology permits generating images indistinguishable from real objects.

Submission + - BlackBerry Launches New Phone 'The Classic' (wsj.com)

mpicpp writes: BlackBerry unveiled a new device on Wednesday meant to appeal to the smartphone maker’s traditional customers with signature BlackBerry phone features such as a physical keyboard and trackpad.

Dubbed the Classic, the new phone is part of the Canadian company’s plan to reignite sales and return to profitability by focusing on business customers after its previous attempt to appeal to consumer customers fell flat.

The plan also focuses on increased sales of management-device software and security services to enterprise customers.

The Classic has a traditional qwerty keyboard, a row of navigation keys to manipulate the device’s operating system and a trackpad to scroll through lists—features that made the company’s Bold device popular with lawyers, bankers and other professionals.

Smartphone Maker Seeks to Appeal to Traditional Customers With Signature BlackBerry Phone Features

Feed Google News Sci Tech: Facebook drops Bing, will reportedly debut own search tool on Monday - Mashable (google.com)


Mashable

Facebook drops Bing, will reportedly debut own search tool on Monday
Mashable
Facebook has quietly removed Microsoft-owned Bing as its primary search engine, according to a new report. The social network pulled Bing search from its Graph Search platform, and will introduce on Monday its own search tool that will allow users to find...
Facebook Dumps Microsoft (MSFT, FB)SFGate
Facebook Bids Adieu to Microsoft BingApex Tribune
Facebook Kicks Microsoft Bing To The CurbHot Hardware
Auto World News-Tech Times-Chinatopix
all 98 news articles

Submission + - Former iTunes Engineer Tells Court He Worked to Block Competitors (wsj.com)

loftarasa writes: Yesterday, former engineer Rob Schultz unwillingly testified in court against Apple that he worked on project 'Candy' which 'intended to block 100% of non-iTunes clients' from 2006 to 2007. In his opinion, the work of his team contributed to create 'market dominance' for the iPod. Apple argues, and Schutlz agree, that its intentions were to improve iTunes, not curb competition.

Comment Missing the point (Score 2) 236

The people ITT comparing the Surface Pro 3 to an iPad have got it completely wrong. The Surface competes against the Air, as a lightweight, full blown computer. The fact that it can detatch its keyboard and work with touch-only is an extra, but it is not how Surface owners spend the majority of their time.

Submission + - Start-up MindRDR developing a way to mind-control wearables such as Google Glass (discovery.com)

loftarasa writes: London-based startup MindRDR "is working on a way to control wearable devices like Google Glass with the power of thought", reports Discovery News. Many other companies in the past have announced similar technologies, but failed to live up to the hype. Meanwhile, MindRDR claims their prototype is currently operational, albeit limited to making Google Glass take pictures.

Submission + - Peer Review Ring Broken - 60 Articles Retracted

blackbeak writes: The Washington Post reports that the Journal of Vibration and Control's review system was hijacked by a ring of reviewers. 60 articles have been retracted as a result. If a relatively nonpolitical field like JVC covers is subject to this kind of nonsense, what might be lurking behind peer reviews in the pharmaceutical or petroleum fields? Maybe non peers should be partnered with peers to do the reviewing.

Submission + - Oregon man given 30 day jail sentence for collecting rain water on his own land (tpnn.com) 2

schwit1 writes: Gary Harrington has battled with the Oregon Water Resources Department over reservoirs on his land that collected rainwater. The water officials claim that Harrington is violating a 1925 law by diverting water from the Big Butte River.

Is this what our government has become? Is this a service to the people?

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