skaladis - Slashdot User

Submission + - Condemned to Google Hell

Submitted by Wayne Ma on Monday April 30, 2007 @11:08PM

Wayne Ma writes: Forbes.com reports on how Google's uses its "supplemental index" as a Siberian work camp for spam sites, keeping them out of high search results and spidering them every few months only. That's great in theory, but Google also is lumping legitimate business sites in with the junk content, destroying their traffic and costing them huge amount of revenue. Several well-known search markets weigh in and say that Google Hell is getting bigger than ever.

Feed Is It Time To Call It Quits On The PC? (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed on Monday April 30, 2007 @10:52PM

With Vista having failed to ignite a boom in the computer industry, some analysts are starting to turn dour on the future of the PC. David Daoud, an analyst at IDC, thinks it's time for computer makers to rethink the traditional PC, and to work on developing more innovative products. He notes that the basic PC (with its big monitor and QWERTY keyboard) has basically been the same since its inception, and that things like ultra mobile PCs, tablets and other forms that have yet to be invented will come to play an important part role in the industry. Of course, people have been talking about all of these things before, and despite grandiose ambitions, nothing has made a dent in the market. The latest, the ultra mobile PC (UMPC) has pretty much been a dud, despite plenty of backing and hype. This isn't to say that manufacturers shouldn't be exploring alternatives, but as Apple has shown with its resurgent computer business, there's plenty of room for innovation and growth within the traditional confines of the PC.

Submission + - Mom sells last name on ebay

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 30, 2007 @09:41PM

An anonymous reader writes: http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-now-nameau ction.a27,0,2452569.story?coll=dp-news-local-final BY MIKE HOLTZCLAW Daily Press April 27, 2007, 10:37 AM EDT Karen Dobos wants a new name. She feels no connection to her current name (which came from her ex-husband) or to her previous name (she was Karen Paul when she graduated from Poquoson High School in 1994). So she's ready to let a complete stranger pick her new surname. For a price. "The idea really came from joking around with my friends," said the 30-year-old mother of three who lives in Virginia Beach. "I wanted to change my name and I didn't have anything particular in mind. Someone had the idea, why not put it up on eBay? "I thought about it for a couple of weeks, and then the other night, I was sitting watching TV and I just sort of said, 'OK, well ... why not?' " Her online auction began around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. It will continue through Saturday, May 5. Bidding starts at $10,000. In introducing the auction on the site, Dobos explains to potential bidders that she has three kids between the ages of 5 and 11, works full-time and is an A-student just a few credit hours away from an online bachelor's degree. "Despite all that," she writes on the site, "I am barely making it. I have a 500-dollar repair to my car that needs made, all my kids need summer clothes and new sneakers. I'm barely making my mortgage payments and often struggle to keep food on the table. That's what's in it for me." The auction has drawn an opening bid of $10,000. She has promised to legally change her name to whatever the high bidder chooses, and to maintain that name for a minimum of one year for every thousand dollars. "I'm not too worried, I guess," she said this morning. "I put in the terms of the auction that it can't be obscene or illegal or discriminatory. Whatever I change my name to has to be approved by a judge in court, so I'm not too worried." She figured the bidders will fall into one of three potential categories: good-hearted philanthropists who want to help a mother and her children, pranksters who have no intention of coughing up the money, or businesses who figure they could cash in on the publicity when she changes her name to ... oh, say ... Karen Pepsi-cola, or Karen dailypress.com. "A couple of my friends think I've lost my mind," she said. "But it could turn out to be a great way to make money for me and my kids. And the worst thing that could come from it is that I'm out $5 for the listing fee and I made a whole bunch of people laugh." http://cgi.ebay.com/Choose-My-Last-Name_W0QQitemZ1 90108012799QQihZ009QQcategoryZ102333QQrdZ1QQcmdZVi ewItem

Submission + - Mistaken YouTube takedown of national TV reporter

Submitted by parodyca on Monday April 30, 2007 @09:11PM

parodyca writes: David Akin is a national TV reporter for CTV in Canada. Youtube recently took down his home video of his trip to Vimy Ridge (A Canadian national monument) in France. His video was here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71fBv-U-6b8 and was ordered down via DMCA by a law firm called Holland & Hart LLP. But from Akins description there is nothing possibly infringing in the video. By strange coincidence another video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71fBv-U-6b9 was also ordered down by the same law firm. Is this another example of the consequences of not having any accountability for these takedown notices? Having now happen to a national TV reporter with the DMCA get the bad press it so richly deserves?

Submission + - A pill that makes women slimmer and hornier

Submitted by The Great Pretender on Monday April 30, 2007 @06:40PM

The Great Pretender writes: The BBC reports that scientists are developing a pill which could boost women's libido and reduce their appetite. The hormone-releasing pill has so far only been given to female monkeys and shrews who displayed more mating behavior and ate less. The team from the Medical Research Council's Human Reproduction Unit in Edinburgh believe a human version could be available within a decade. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6606927.stm. I was married to a shrew once...

Submission + - Quantum Cryptography Hacked

Submitted by mrbluze on Monday April 30, 2007 @06:45AM

mrbluze writes: Nature reports on a eavesdropping technique developed by researchers at MIT for intercepting quantum-encrypted messages:

To listen in, the team used a quantum-mechanical principle known as entanglement, which can link together two different traits of a particle. Using an optical setup, the team was able to entangle the transmitted photon's polarization with its momentum. The eavesdropper could then measure the momentum in order to get information about the polarization, without affecting the original polarization.
This stuff is beyond me, but I can't wait to read Slashdot's explanation!

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