Comment Re:Thanks goodness for that... (Score 1) 331
'book' can be removed remotely
On that note -- that's why I refused to consider Amazon's Kindle e-readers after that debacle with the George Orwell e-books.
Comment Re:price (Score 1) 331
I've read many paper books and have owned an e-ink e-reader for 1,5 years now. E-ink has a lot of advantages: no bookshelves full of books, the books always weigh the same no matter how many pages it has, they're generally cheaper than paper, no shipping costs, etc. I can also tell you that since it also uses indirect light, there is NO (extra) strain on the eyes whatsoever. You can also adjust the font or font size to your liking, which makes it ideal for elderly people too.
By the way, I recently got a tablet and tried to read a book on it. That was much less pleasant, even with white letters on black background. Because of the bigger screen and colors, it is suitable for comics though. Until full color e-ink readers with screens bigger than 5" come along.
Comment Re:P2TC signs: "I really like this" (Score 1) 79
This little joke actually raises an interesting topic, as sign language usually does not follow the same grammar as spoken/written language. Sign languages can differ from country to country or from region to region, similar to dialects. The hands aren't the only things used to convey meanings either: facial expressions or body movements are used too.
An example of sign language using the line above could be to represent the words "breasts", "you" and "like", in that order, with expressing the meaning "very much" by widening the eyes or exaggerating the sign for "like". If a software program can only recognize signs and nothing else, the "really" gets lost in translation. And then you have to put the words in the right order as well.
Comment Re:What We Really Want (Score 1) 245
Yep. Please. In the meantime, I'll re-watch Firefly and Serenity.
(T:TSCC would've been better, but it's not the best series of the bunch she has played in.)
Comment Re:Who wants to make their lives interesting? (Score 1) 283
Whereas midichlorians have pretty high UIDs, right?
(No, not me.)
Comment Re:Solution already ongoing (Score 1) 136
Yeah, and just last month, Dutch minister Verhagen and Secretary Teeven declared they would reject any ACTA clones. (Dutch).
However, these are politicians promising things, so they should be reminded of their own words.
Comment Dupe? (Score 1) 136
Isn't this basically a dupe of the story I submitted back in July?
Not that the public shouldn't be reminded again. CETA and other ACTA clones need to die.
Submission + - EFF To Ask Judge To Rule Universal Abused DMCA
xSander writes: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will urge a federal judge in San Jose, CA to rule that Universal abused the DMCA to take down a video of a toddler dancing to a Prince song.
The case in question, whose oral argument will be Tuesday, October 16, is Stephanie Lenz vs. Universal, a case that began back in 2007. Lenz shared a video on YouTube of her son dancing to "Let's Go Crazy" on a stereo in the background. After Universal took the video down, Lenz filed a suit with help of the EFF to hold Universal accountable for taking down her fair use. The court had already decided that content owners must consider fair use before sending copyright takedown notices.
The case in question, whose oral argument will be Tuesday, October 16, is Stephanie Lenz vs. Universal, a case that began back in 2007. Lenz shared a video on YouTube of her son dancing to "Let's Go Crazy" on a stereo in the background. After Universal took the video down, Lenz filed a suit with help of the EFF to hold Universal accountable for taking down her fair use. The court had already decided that content owners must consider fair use before sending copyright takedown notices.
Comment Re:FUCK YOU (Score 2) 98
They don't have to enable dislikes by default... make it optional. Sometimes a "dislike" option is much more appropriate than a "like" button, like when you post bad news. That at least makes it more social.
Comment Re:What's up Netherlands? (Score 2) 203
Yeah, and the Dutch "cookies law" is much more rigorous as a result.
BTW, it's not really a cookies law, it's a law that requires websites to ask permission to track their visitors through whatever method, even IP addresses (as those can be tied to a specific person in most cases.)
Comment Re:AWESOME. (Score 1) 134
A terribly unfunny web comic.
Really? You must not like cynicism. Either that or the topics he usually posts about.
Comment Re:Not only UK, also many other European countries (Score 1) 62
(Oh, and for some algorithm fun, try getting walking directions from Hull, England to Esbjerg, Denmark. It seems to be trying to minimise the walking distance, with rather amusing results.)
Amusing indeed. I tried the bike directions. You have to bike all the way to Norwich and take the ferry to Esbjerg. The alternative is the same as for the walking route.
Anyway, I'm from The Netherlands and I just tried to get the bike route from my home to work. Well, I know a much shorter route than what it gave me! Obviously it's very much in beta.
Comment Sure... (Score 2) 112
Politicians always tell the truth, especially when it's about secretly negotiated treaties, right?
Submission + - Bye ACTA, hello CETA
xSander writes: Is anyone really surprised by this? ACTA may have been rejected by the EP, it is far from dead yet. Apparently, the EU is trying to revive ACTA through the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA).
Comment Good initiative (Score 1) 194
No matter what you may find of endangered languages, it's always worth preserving it. Because what if we had not, and in the future we'd encounter a civilization (doesn't have to be from other worlds) and have no way to decipher their language relatively fast?
