Comment Re:Pussification (Score 1) 446
Just one more step.
Wimpy masses are easier to manipulate.
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And be sure to use hand sanitizer before and after replying to this message.
Blizzard vs. Glider Battle Resumes Next Week 384
trawg writes "You paid for it, you have the DVD in your drive and the box on the floor next to your desk, but do you own the game? That's the question the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on next week in the case between Blizzard, publisher of World of Warcraft, and MDY, publisher of the Glider bot. The Glider bot plays World of Warcraft for you, but Blizzard frowns on this, saying it voids the license agreement — you don't own the game, you only have a license to use it, and bots like Glider invalidate the license. The EFF has a good summary of the case as well. The case is due to be resumed on Monday."
Comment Re:you should not be surprised by this (Score 2, Insightful) 154
Yes... and even if geeks and privacy fans manage to avoid being in the particular set of data, who cares... there are plenty of folks (one borne every minute) who have happily posted lots of stuff on FB, etc... It's a gold-mine of demographic data, only an idiot (or someone with ethics) would pass up the chance to use that data to Make Money Fast.
Time to Update Barnum's Philosophy for the 21st Century: 'It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep their money or their privacy'
Comment Re:"Clever" headlines impress only other writers (Score 1) 192
But some of them are informative -and- funny.
Like the NY Post Sports Page headline "Marv Gets Pink Slip".
If you were likely to look at the NY Post sports section on that day, you would know who Marv (Albert) is, and would get the joke.
And the article really was about how sportscaster Marv Albert had been fired from his TV job because of a sex scandal.
And for the Europhiles:
Yes, in France or another enlightened country the kinky sex would have been no big deal. Or possibly even increased his ratings. But he wasn't in France.
Comment Re:Where's it going? (Score 2, Funny) 138
Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Climate Change, Wars, Plaques, vanishing bees and the possibility that George Lucas might make another movie? All of these are signs that the 4 Horseman are saddling up and getting ready for a ride.
So "away" is good enough for me.
Hopefully to a planet that was not colonized by the Golgafrincham B Ark.
Comment Re:Damage contained through one-time passwords. (Score 1) 214
...What would be the motivation(s) for hacking Apache, anyway? It's not like it's Citibank.
Indeed. Unlike Citibank, the Apache Foundation is solvent, and has not burned through billions of taxpayer's dollars.
(rimshot)
Comment Re:Good idea, poor execution. (Score 1) 147
a little bit of comm networking and boom you can easily have people joining up into road trains,
10-4 Good Buddy, Looks like we got us a Convoy.
Comment Re:Quasi futuristic styling (Score 1) 147
If they didn't, your TV and radio would be plastic boxes made to look like wood and your car would be a station wagon with wood panels on the side.
On the other hand, my TV is not an enormous picture tube in a 'space-age' frame
My car has no tail fins or torpedo-like bumpers or gas turbine engine....but it is sort of a station wagon (OK, it's a hatchback) with some swoopy bits of bodywork (Spoiler, diffuser, slippery shape based on aerodynamic engineering instead of fantasy, with a front end designed to protect struck pedetrians, and not impale them) a really exotic powerplant (DOHC fuel injected Turbocharged engine made of alloys and plastics)...
but it still runs on gasoline and it does not fly.
The Future has a tendency to not look like what the dreamers dream.
'They promised us flying cars'
Patent Markings May Spell Trouble For Activision 82
eldavojohn writes "If you pick up your copy of Guitar Hero and read the literature, you'll notice it says 'patent pending' and cites a number of patents. A group alleges no such patent pends nor are some of the patents applicable. If a judge finds Activision guilty of misleading the public in this manner, they could become liable for up to $500 per product sold under false patent marking. The patents in question seem to be legitimately Guitar Hero-oriented, and little is to be found about the mysterious group. The final piece of the puzzle puts the filing in Texas Northern District Court, which might be close enough to Texas Eastern District Court to write this off as a new kind of 'false patent marking troll' targeting big fish with deep coffers."
Directed Energy Weapon Downs Mosquitos 428
wisebabo writes "Nathan Myhrvol demonstrated at TED a laser, built from parts scrounged from eBay, capable of shooting down not one but 50 to 100 mosquitos a second. The system is 'so precise that it can specify the species, and even the gender, of the mosquito being targeted.' Currently, for the sake of efficiency, it leaves the males alone because only females are bloodsuckers. Best of all the system could cost as little as $50. Maybe that's too expensive for use in preventing malaria in Africa but I'd buy one in a second!" We ran a story about this last year. It looks like the company has added a bit more polish, and burning mosquito footage to their marketing.
Political Affiliation Can Be Differentiated By Appearance 262
quaith writes "It's not the way they dress, but the appearance of their face. A study published in PLoS One by Nicholas O. Rule and Nalini Ambady of Tufts University used closely cropped greyscale photos of people's faces, standardized for size. Undergrads were asked to categorize each person as either a Democrat or Republican. In the first study, students were able to differentiate Republican from Democrat senate candidates. In the second, students were able to differentiate the political affiliation of other college students. Accuracy in both studies was about 60% — not perfect, but way better than chance."
Comment Re:And this is news why? (Score 1) 285
Folks who use suites for meetings, with a few odd products on display (ie. those who might not have had a booth in the first place), have not been hassled.
Especially folks who have the hotel supply massive quantities of food and drink (at premium prices) for hospitality events.
Getting prospective customers drunk is a time-honored selling technique.
We won't even start on the (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) 'hostesses' that will help important prospects feel more comfortable.
Comment Get in touch with your inner PHB (Score 3, Interesting) 410
It really depends on the situation.
If The New Manager is intent on making their fast-track bones by shaking things up, the entire tech level may soon be outsourced.
What is important is what you want.
Do you want to give management a try?
Do you want to learn The New Manager's style of managing?
Have you ever thought 'if I were running things we would not be doing X, we would do Y'?
I suggest you give it a shot, maybe you will like it.
If you turn it down, be sure to give The New Manager every reason to know that you are just too darn essential in the tech role to be moved out of it.
Either way: Get your resume out there, and start actively looking for a new job.
Good Luck!
Comment Re:haha that's funny (Score 2, Interesting) 560
Raise your hand if you remember when putting "NO CARRIER" in a post was considered Rude as it could make some terminal emulators think the modem had dropped the call.
OK, get your health care aid to help you raise your hand.
Now all of you kids get off my lawn!
Comment Wow, I wonder if my texts are in there... (Score 3, Interesting) 309
Yes, I am a New Yorker.
Yes, I was in the city that day.
My Cellphone was useless, probably due to a combination of losing a major relay point, and everybody in town trying to use their phones at the same time. Landlines were flakey (probably due to losing a major chunk of the infrastructure).
My Obsolete and Archaic text pager kept working.
(I wonder if the pager "I'm OK, R U OK?"messages I exchanged with my sister are in this archive?)
