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Censorship

Apple Bans Android Magazine App From App Store 574

Posted by CmdrTaco from the every-day-a-little-more-evil dept.
recoiledsnake writes "Apple dialed its battle with Android up a notch today by banning an Android magazine app from its App Store, leaving no way for users to install the app on iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches without jailbreaking. The reason for rejection, as given by an Apple rep, was: 'You know... your magazine...It's just about Android.... we can't have that in our App Store.' The bi-monthly publication — the Android counterpart to an iPhone magazine Dixon began putting out earlier this year — launched Nov. 11. 'It's funny really because I don't think we would sell many magazines on Android through Apple App Store,' Dixon told Media Watch. 'But the question is where this is going.' This comes on the heels of Jobs lashing out at Android, calling it fragmented, and its patent attacks on Android."
Firefox

Apple, Microsoft, Google Attacked For Evil Plugins 293

Posted by CmdrTaco from the also-wear-more-hats dept.
nk497 writes "A Mozilla exec has attacked Apple, Microsoft and Google for installing plugins without users' permission. 'Why do Microsoft, Google, Apple, and others think that it is an OK practice to add plug-ins to Firefox when I'm installing their software packages?' Asa Dotzler asks. 'That is precisely how a Trojan horse operates... These additional pieces of software installed without my consent may not be malicious but the means by which they were installed was sneaky, underhanded, and wrong.' He called on them to 'stop being evil.'"
Idle

Linux Radio 141

Posted by samzenpus from the free-traffic-report dept.
An anonymous reader writes "This might very well be the nerdiest site we'll ever encounter... Linux Radio is an online radio station broadcasting the Linux kernel! Each time someone visit the site, a random source file is selected and read loudly by a virtual speaker materialized through the open source speech synthesizer eSpeak. Will it prove useful to anyone is probably a difficult question to answer, but the excitement provided is worth experiencing at least once. However, this concept proves once more the advantages of open source over proprietary software making such achievements impossible : whoever in his right mind would want to listen to binary files loudly?"
Linux

The ~200 Line Linux Kernel Patch That Does Wonders 603

Posted by CmdrTaco from the well-isn't-that-special dept.
An anonymous reader writes "There is a relatively miniscule patch to the Linux kernel scheduler being queued up for Linux 2.6.38 that is proving to have dramatic results for those multi-tasking on the desktop. Phoronix is reporting the ~200 line Linux kernel patch that does wonders with before and after videos demonstrating the much-improved responsiveness and interactivity of the Linux desktop. While compiling the Linux kernel with 64 parallel jobs, 1080p video playback was still smooth, windows could be moved fluidly, and there was not nearly as much of a slowdown compared to when this patch was applied. Linus Torvalds has shared his thoughts on this patch: So I think this is firmly one of those 'real improvement' patches. Good job. Group scheduling goes from 'useful for some specific server loads' to 'that's a killer feature.'"
AMD

Submission + - Intel Rival AMD Joining MeeGo Linux Open Source Pr (pocketnow.com)

Submitted by timothy
timothy writes: According to Pocketnow.com, AMD has announced it has joined The Linux Foundation's MeeGo open source Linux project started out by Intel and Nokia.

That's encouraging; I was turned off by the idea that it was essentially an Intel-only project, since I like to keep my processor options open, so when I look for a new machine, I can choose from AMD's and Intel's x86 chips at least. (And hopefully soon more ARM-based tablets, etc.)
First Person Shooters (Games)

Video Games Found To Enhance Visual Attention 79

Posted by Soulskill from the told-you-mom dept.
donniebaseball23 writes "Reporting on new research from WIREs Cognitive Science, IndustryGamers writes: 'Action games like Call of Duty and Halo can enhance visual attention, the ability that helps us focus on relevant visual information. The mental mechanism allows people to select pertinent visual information and ignore irrelevant information. It suggests that action titles can be used to augment military training, educational tools, and correct visual deficits.' Shawn Green, co-author of the study, commented, 'At the core of these action video game-induced improvements appears to be a remarkable enhancement in the ability to flexibly and precisely control attention, a finding that could have a variety of real-world applications. For example, those in professions that demand "super-normal" visual attention, such as fighter pilots, would benefit enormously from enhanced visual attention, as their performance and lives depend on their ability to react quickly and accurately to primarily visual information."
Books

Submission + - Amazon Cuts 'Pedophilia Guide' from Kindle Store (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by pickens
pickens writes: The Telegraph Reports that Amazon has withdrawn a controversial ebook about pedophilia from its Kindle ebook store following protests from customers. Although Amazon issues guidelines prohibiting certain works, including those deemed offensive, it does not define what is considered to constitute offensive content. The availability of the ebook, which can be downloaded on to Amazon’s popular Kindle reader, sparked a storm of protest, with scores of people threatening to boycott the online retailer until the text was removed from sale. Amazon had initially refused to delete the book, saying that it “supported the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions”, and that removing the ebook from the site would be tantamount to censorship. However, the document has now been deleted, although Amazon has not given any reason for its change of heart.
Microsoft

Submission + - Motorola countersues Microsoft over 16 patents (blogspot.com)

Submitted by FlorianMueller
FlorianMueller writes: As if there weren't already enough patent suits related to smartphone technologies, Motorola just announced its widely anticipated countersuit against Microsoft. Its subsidiary Motorola Mobility filed complaints with two US District Courts (Southern District of Florida and Western District of Wisconsin). Motorola already litigates with Apple in those and other courts. According to Motorola, the patents relate to technologies in the fields of operating systems, video codecs, email, instant messaging, object-oriented software architectures, WiFi, and graphical passwords. Motorola claims Windows, the Live messenger, Windows Phone, Outlook and other Microsoft products infringe. Motorola's action is no surprise given that all of the companies sued over patent infringement by Android--with the exception of Google--have already countersued.
Education

Submission + - V for Vendetta Hacker Strikes at WSU (wired.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An anonymous hacker wearing a Guy Fawkes mask took over classroom projection screens at Washington State University last Friday, the fifth of November, to broadcast a prerecorded message adapted from V For Vendetta, in a prank that evidently alarmed administrators and amused students. The nearly four minute video, which was also posted on YouTube, and has its own website, Facebook page and Twitter hashtag, criticizes the university’s IT department. It also urges the student body to rise up against squirrels on the campus grounds. The rodents, the ersatz V complains, do nothing but “eat, drink and breed.”

Submission + - Four ways to harvest solar heat from roads (gizmag.com)

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes: Anyone who has every tried walking barefoot on an asphalt road will know how good the substance is at storing solar heat – the heat-storing qualities of roadways has even been put forward as an explanation as to why cities tend to be warmer than surrounding rural areas. Not content to see all that heat going to waste, researchers from the University of Rhode Island (URI) want to put it to use in a system that harvests solar heat from the road to melt ice, heat buildings, or to create electricity.
Graphics

The First Photograph of a Human 138

Posted by samzenpus from the fist-cheese dept.
wiredog writes "The Atlantic has a brief piece on what is likely to be the first photograph (a daguerreotype) showing a human. From the article: 'In September, Krulwich posted a set of daguerreotypes taken by Charles Fontayne and William Porter in Cincinnati 162 years ago, on September 24, 1848. Krulwich was celebrating the work of the George Eastman House in association with the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Using visible-light microscopy, the George Eastman House scanned several plates depicting the Cincinnati Waterfront so that scholars could zoom in and study the never-before-seen details.'"
Businesses

Linux To Take Over Microsoft In Enterprises 237

Posted by samzenpus from the slow-and-steady-wins-the-race dept.
shougyin writes "For years, Linux has enjoyed much of its success as a replacement for Unix. Companies turned to Linux to replace Unix servers, or for new deployments within a Unix-heavy environment. Linux is still king there, but it's starting to encroach on Microsoft as well. Big companies are planning overwhelmingly (76.4%) to add more Linux servers in the next year, and less than half (41.2%) of the companies are planning to add Windows servers in the next year. Even more interesting, nearly half (43.6%) are actively planning to decrease use of Windows servers in the next year."

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