Comment Re:Just WHO is on the other end? (Score 1) 308
You leave the World Health Organization out of this.
Neal Stephenson Says Video Games Are the Metaverse 176
An anonymous reader writes "In an interview with Forbes Magazine, Neal Stephenson says the 'Metaverse' he created in his seminal novel Snow Crash missed the point — and that video games like World of Warcraft are the true future of cyberspace."
Forbes writer David Ewalt seems taken with Stephenson's new book, REAMDE, which I'm looking forward to getting my hands on.
Comment Re:Obi, anyone? (Score 1) 178
You're thinking of Oobi?
Comment Misread MPG as MPH (Score 4, Funny) 220
Still really cool, but my original reality was much more awesome. I would have loved to break the sound barrier when I was 11.
Comment Questioning the constitutionality... (Score 5, Insightful) 247
I'd like to question the constitutionality of a lot more than just how it was signed.
Comment Re:Maybe a BIT sensationalistic... (Score 1) 250
0100010001010011 = DS?
I don't get it (DropShip?), but it doesn't seem like coincidence (multiple of 8 bits, both uppercase ASCII chars).
Comment Re:Wikipedia says 2012 - 2017 (Score 1) 453
If you're just implementing a MP3 decoder (which is all Firefox would need to do to play MP3 files) then you might not have patent issues even today: http://lwn.net/Articles/166346/
It's a shame the Slashdot article didn't link to any sources.
It's a shame the Slashdot article didn't link to any sources.
Comment Re:Steve Jobs on video codecs and patents (Score 1) 149
Variable-lifetime patents already exist to a certain extent (utility patents vs. design patents). But it would be interesting to extend the idea further.
As long as we can make arbitrary changes to patent law, I think the most valuable thing you could do is to mandate a periodic investigation into whether or not the current policies encourage innovation. Are algorithm patents slowing down innovation? Shorten their duration by a few years/be stricter about what you accept.
As long as we can make arbitrary changes to patent law, I think the most valuable thing you could do is to mandate a periodic investigation into whether or not the current policies encourage innovation. Are algorithm patents slowing down innovation? Shorten their duration by a few years/be stricter about what you accept.
- Frivolous lawsuits would be severely discouraged. And I mean severely.
- The patent process now involves wrestling with a live bear. Anyone who successfully survives the experience is awarded the patent.
I can only imagine the punishment you have in mind for a frivolous lawsuit.
Comment They *do* realize this, right? (Score 1) 386
They're only giving credibility to the tinfoil hat (underwear?)-wearing crowd.
Comment Re:Same time? (Score 1) 365
Off topic, but the aegidian.org link in your sig seems to be down. http://www.oolite.org/ appears to be the current webpage (fellow fan of oolite here).
Comment Re:Incorrect. (Score 1) 566
* speaking of plugins, they are not considered GPL-able software despite many of them existing with GPL licenses - I suggested adding it during v3 ratification, but they did not feel there was a need (there are several clauses that make them not applicable), so if you write GPL plugins, I suggest moving to another license because the one you're using is not valid.
Could you explain this further? I'm not sure if you're saying that licensing a plugin under the GPL is (1) a legal mess, (2) a potential legal mess, (3) an impossibility,or (4) something else entirely.
Pope Promotes Christian Netiquette
218
angry tapir writes "Pope Benedict XVI Monday gave his blessing to social networking, urging Catholic Internet users to adopt a respectful Christian netiquette when spreading the Gospel online. The pope said new technologies were creating unprecedented opportunities for establishing relationships and building fellowship but warned against creating false online profiles out of vanity or diluting the Christian message to achieve popularity."
Comment Re:So, h264 is (Score 1) 663
Have the patents been released? I was under the impression that the irrevocable thing was the license to use the patents specifically for VP8 implementations. Google still owns the patents and can still sue if you use them in non-VP8 applications.
I remember reading that Google might want patent defense, so that if someone goes after VP8, Google can fire a salvo right back at H.264 (i.e., Google supposedly knows of VP8 patents that cover H.264 and could sink them).
Comment Re:And BOOM (Score 4, Informative) 131
Coral Cache links for ya:
- Legend Of The Bouncing Beholder by @marijnjh
- Tiny chess by Oscar Toledo G.
- Tetris with sound by @sjoerd_visscher
- WOLF1K and the rainbow characters by @p01
- Binary clock (tweetable) by @alexeym
- Mother fucking lasers by @evilhackerdude
- Graphical layout engine by Lars Ronnback
- Crazy multiplayer 2-sided Pong by @feiss
- Morse code generator by @chrissmoak
- Pulsing 3d wires by @unconed
Rackspace Shuts Down Quran-Burning Church's Sites 1695
theodp writes "In response to a complaint, Rackspace has shut down the websites of the Dove World Outreach Center, a small 50-member church which has received national and international criticism for a planned book burning of the Quran on the anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. The center 'violated the hate-speech provision of our acceptable-use policy,' explained Rackspace spokesman Dan Goodgame. 'This is not a constitutional issue. This is a contract issue,' said Goodgame, who added he did not know how long it had hosted the church's sites. Not quite the same thing, but would Kurt Westergaard's cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad also violate Rackspace's AUP? How about Christopher Hitchens' Slate articles? Could articles from one-time Rackspace poster child The Onion pass muster?"
