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Christmas Cheer

Submission + - One down, two to go.

Submitted by lelitsch
lelitsch writes: The WSJ, Reuters and other news agencies report that CompUSA has been sold and is going to be liquidated. While this will give a short term boost to CircuitCity and Best Buy, I wonder if their combination or high prices, high pressure sales techniques (not to use a nastier word), unfriendly staff and lack of technical savvy might drive all of them out of business eventually. Are we headed for a WalMart and web world for tech toys?
Government

Submission + - German government seeks ban on Scientology (cnn.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: CNN reports that the German government is seeking to ban Scientology, considering it "threatening the peaceful democratic order" of the country and "in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution" by "limiting or rescinding basic human rights". Is this move a step in the right direction or an infringement upon the freedom of religion?
Businesses

Submission + - CompUSA to Close All Stores 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Mexican telephone and retail magnate Carlos Slim, in a rare defeat, will exit the U.S. consumer electronics market, shutting the last 100 CompUSA Inc. stores after sinking about $2 billion into the business. Gordon Brothers Group, a Boston-based retail store liquidator, will oversee a piecemeal sale of the Dallas-based business, the company said in a statement. Financial terms were not disclosed. Stores will remain open through year-end under the supervision of Gordon Brothers, which will also negotiate the sale of real estate and other assets. Two law firms were hired to represent creditors, CompUSA said.
Movies

Submission + - Study Finds Film Enjoyment Is Contagious 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "My wife I enjoy watching old movies on a big screen tv in our family room where we can close all the doors and shutter the windows to simulate the ambiance of a theater but there has always been something missing from the experience. Now a report from Science Daily says that scientists have proven that the presence of other people may enhance our movie-watching experiences by influencing one another and gradually synchronizing their emotional responses. This mutual mimicry also affects each participant's evaluation of the overall experience — the more in sync we are with the people around us, the more we like the movie. In a series of experiments, researchers had participants watch a video clip. Some of the participants watched alone, some with other people whose expressions could not be seen due to the presence of a partition, and some with other people whose expressions could be seen. The researchers found that people watching a film together appeared to evaluate the film within the same broad mood and another study found that synchrony of evaluations can be traced to glances at the other person during the film and adoption of the observed expressions. "By mimicking expressions, people catch each other's moods leading to a shared emotional experience. That feels good to people and they attribute that good feeling to the quality of the movie," said one researcher."
VA

Submission + - The Pirate Bay sails to trial in january (www.sr.se) 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: After a year and a half after the raid on The Pirate Bay, an action that doubled the number of visitiors, the preliminary work is done and come january the five men behind the site will go to trial for "aiding copyright infringement".
According to the anti-piracy agency it is a relief for everyone involved, them and TPB, to finaly be able to have the case tried in court.
One of the guys behind TBP says that he think the charge is strange considering that they never had any illigeal copies on the site, only links to other peoples machines.

Story in swedish only this far.
Linux Business

Submission + - An end to businesses fake consumer blogging ? (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by backwardvisionary
backwardvisionary writes: EU will forbid what they call "unfair business practices" including fake blogging, or "flogging". We all know who the most active company is as far as writing undercover on blogs, posting its easily identifiable corporate rethorics, vainly attempting to promote or defend their s/w products under attack from angry unsatisfied consumers. Or competitors frustrated by its anti-competition practices. As a result or this regulation, all floggers now will have to identify themselves. So ho will it affect all the Linux enthousiasts who blog ? Will they also have to claim who they are when praising their beloved O.S. ? How should it look like in their signature ? How about this : "Yes, I'm a happy Linux user, but in no way receiving any benefits from any Linux related business except the one of enjoying daily a reliable, convenient, secure, cool, fun, open, feature-unlimited O.S. and s/w platform. For free."
Robotics

Submission + - Robot goats save planet Earth from distruction (techtarget.com)

Submitted by
HRHsoleil
HRHsoleil writes: "Each year New Yorkers throw out over 180 million of those blue, Greek "We are happy to serve you paper coffee cups. Now where would you rather throw yours out? In a big boxy trash compactor that looks suspiciously like a mailbox, or by feeding a robot goat? I think the folks in Tokyo are on to something. Screw those big plastic cows. Make them robotic and let them do something useful like clean up the planet."
Google

Google As The Next Microsoft? 235

Posted by Zonk from the yeah,-he-went-there dept.
theodp writes "In this week's missive, Robert X. Cringely argues that Google is starting to look a bit like Microsoft. The search giant is learning too well from the master, says Cringely, noting that Google's launch of Goog-411 after taking a long look at investing in or acquiring Free411.com under an NDA is straight out of an old Microsoft playbook. Cringely goes on to note that Google has a problem with algorithmic optimization gone mad (seconded by Newsweek), which is wreaking havoc on some AdWords customers who may find themselves out of business before they can get Google to do the right thing. Cringely concedes that Google's inability to follow through because of IT failings may not have been learned from Microsoft — it may just be an inevitable part of having an IT monopoly."
The Military

Submission + - Military, defensive technology, cloaking (ninemsn.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Science fiction is getting closer to science fact according to an article posted at NineMSN.

British researchers have unveiled new technology that renders army tanks invisible to observers in the battle field, a British newspaper reports.

At top secret trials last week the Ministry of Defence demonstrated how the clever use of cameras and projectors can beam images of the surrounding landscape onto a tank.
Software

Submission + - Vista 64-Bit Review - x86 vs x64, Worth It? (exoid.com)

Submitted by
Cameron Butterfield
Cameron Butterfield writes: "Some of the rumors and myths going around about 64-bit are scary and are slowing the migration of many users to the 64-bit playground. Why do we all have 64-bit processors these days that aren't being put to use? In this review we will analyse Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition in terms of practicality and performance. We pitt 32-bit Vista against 64-bit Vista. See the surprising Conclusion."
Privacy

Submission + - UK to imprison for inability to decrypt data

Submitted by mrbluze
mrbluze writes: Ars technica has an article describing new laws which come into effect on 1st November in the UK. Up to 2 and 5 years imprisonment can be inflicted on any person who refuses or cannot provide keys or decrypt data as requested by police or military for criminal or anti-terror purposes, respectively. From the article:

The Home Office has steadfastly proclaimed that the law is aimed at catching terrorists, pedophiles, and hardened criminals — all parties which the UK government contends are rather adept at using encryption to cover up their activities.
It refers to a potential problem faced by international bankers who would be wary to bring their encryption keys into the UK. Some how I doubt that is the real problem with the law.
The Internet

Submission + - Social Networks Are More Popular Than Porn (time.com)

Submitted by
biohack
biohack writes: "An analysis of site-visit statistics offered by a TIME columnist points to a surprising reshaping of online landscape. The 18- to 24-year-olds today are apparently too busy chatting with friends to look at online skin.

Currently, for web users over the age of 25, Adult Entertainment still ranks high in popularity, coming in second, after search engines. Not so for 18- to 24-year-olds, for whom social networks rank first, followed by search engines, then web-based e-mail — with porn sites lagging behind in fourth. If you chart the rate of visits to social-networking sites against those to adult sites over the last two years, there appears to be a strong negative correlation (i.e., visits to social networks go up as visits to adult sites go down).
"
Movies

Submission + - Walmart gives HD-DVD a boost with a $99 player 1

Submitted by
smoondog
smoondog writes: "HD-DVD, the next generation format in a tight battle with rival Blu-Ray, got a huge boost this week with Walmart and K-Mart unveiling new pricing and exclusive advertising campaigns. Walmart is featuring the Toshiba HD-A2 player on Friday (11/2) as a 'secret' sale at $98.97. Additionally, a black Friday ad has the third generation HD-A3 at $169 at Sears, and K-Mart is now HD-DVD exclusive. Dreamworks is rolling out an exclusive Shrek based advertising campaign, and Walmart ads have been showing in primetime all week. Deflating even more from the Blu-Ray camp, Walmart is unveiling new pricing of $14.97 on a library of titles. Although Blu-Ray still maintains the sales lead, it is getting harder to argue with the $300 price difference between the lowest priced players."
Communications

Submission + - RIP, Washoe the signing chimp (google.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Washoe the first chimp to be taught American Sign Language has passed away aged 42. She taught us much about communications at a fundamental level and led to endless debate among linguists.

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