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Hardware

The 10 Worst Tech Products of 2010 203

Barence writes "PC Pro has a count down of the ten worst tech gadgets of the year. Included in its hall of shame are: iPad Made Simple, 'a book containing 704 pages of advice on how to use a device that's universally acknowledged as being ridiculously easy to use'; the Dell Inspiron Duo, 'a tablet that leaves you longing to return to a keyboard and a touchpad'; and the £99 Next Tablet, the highlight of which was the 'eight-page Quick Start Guide.'"
Facebook

The Luck of the Irish Runs Out 809

theodp writes "Looks like threatening to take their ball and leave paid off for US tech firms. The Irish government announced plans this week to tap the welfare state and working class for much of the $20B in savings they've pledged to find over the next four years, but the austerity measures will not touch large businesses like Microsoft, Intel, Google, HP, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pfizer, which created jobs and fueled exports in Ireland after being lured by low corporate tax rates. More than 100,000 Dubliners took to the streets to protest the bailout plan, calling for the Irish government to default on the country's debts, and demanding an immediate election. 'We should default,' said a retired union worker, 'the idea that the workers of this country should pay for the gambling of the billionaires is disgusting.'"
Apple

Submission + - FTC will investigate Apple (cnet.com)

An anonymous reader writes: The Federal Trade Commission will open an investigation into whether Apple is illegally using its position in the mobile software market to harm competitors, according to several published reports.

On Friday afternoon, both Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal reported that the FTC had opened a formal probe.

At issue is Apple's recent tweaking of its App Store rules. In May, Apple made changes that prohibit certain developer tools from being used to create applications for the iPhone and iPad, and on Monday effectively blocked Google's AdMob and other non-independent mobile ad networks from accessing applications on the iPhone.

Medicine

Caffeine Addicts Get No Additional Perk, Only a Return To Baseline 506

Dthief writes "Bristol University researchers found that coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to both the anxiety-producing and the stimulating effects of caffeine, meaning that it only brings them back to baseline levels of alertness, not above them. 'Although frequent consumers feel alerted by caffeine, especially by their morning tea, coffee, or other caffeine-containing drink, evidence suggests that this is actually merely the reversal of the fatiguing effects of acute caffeine withdrawal,' wrote the scientists, led by Peter Rogers of Bristol's department of experimental psychology."
Networking

Millions of .de Domains Unreachable For Hours 83

An anonymous reader writes "Due to an error on behalf of DENIC, the German DNS registrar for second-level .de domains, millions of .de domains fell over the edge (auf Deutsch) of the Internet today. The cause of this GAU (GröYter anzunehmender Unfall = maximum credible accident) is still unknown, as DENIC officials haven't answered any questions from journalists at the time of writing."

Comment Re:Depends (Score 1) 277

If the next Xbox had no support for DVD discs, and games were on a proprietary write-once disc that you couldn't read, nor write to from a standard PC, it would seriously curtail piracy for that console.

Ever tried a Wii Disc in your drive? There's only about 3 models of DvD drive that will actually read them (They're all LGs I think), despite this piracy on the Wii is rampant as hacking it is trivially easy, most people rip the discs in the Wii itself. Making the discs unreadable on anything but the console doesn't really have any effect on piracy.

Comment Re:wagging the dog (Score 1) 840

Do you tend to lick windows on the bus on your way to work / school? It's about the only way I can think someone would post such a retarded comment.

The church HAVE got away with it for decades if not centuries, only now is it getting to the stage where they can't keep a lid on all the shit they cover up.

Too many posts like yours on this story are trying to justify the cover up by pointing out other agencies who have done similar, the difference is that paedophilia is rampant in the catholic church and not the other places that you or others have mentioned. The catholic church has systematically protected child abusers , organisations such as governments, schools etc have not so your assertion about the press giving excess coverage is moot if not complete bollocks.

Please have a shit filter in place the next time you decide to post.
Piracy

FBI, DoJ Add 35 Positions For Intellectual Property Battle 140

coondoggie writes "The FBI and Department of Justice said they were going to go hard after intellectual property crimes this year and so far they seem to be keeping their word, as today the agencies appointed 15 new Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) positions and 20 FBI Special Agents dedicated to fighting domestic and international IP crimes. The 15 new AUSAs will work closely with the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section to aggressively pursue high tech crime, including computer crime and intellectual property offenses. The new positions will be located in California, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. The 20 FBI Special Agents will be deployed to specifically boost four geographic areas with intellectual property squads, and increase investigative capacity in other locations around the country where intellectual property crimes are of particular concern. The four squads will be located in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the District of Columbia."
Sony

Sony Can Update PS3 Firmware Without Permission 700

Stoobalou writes "Sony's latest firmware update comes with a revised End User License Agreement which allows the company to change any part of the console's operating system without notification or permission. You might think you own the console you paid for, but Sony has a very different idea."

Comment Re:Please let me use the same password (Score 1) 497

My personal favourite: "No repeating characters allowed." Super idea!

No. 1 reason a good few of the people in my work forget their passwords all the time, the ones that do 'remember' write it down and either:

a) Stick it under the monitor for all to see
b) Put it in the top drawer of their desk which is always unlocked.

Fucking superb security policy if you ask me.

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