Almost-Satnav For Cycling 119
An anonymous reader writes "A couple of guys (us) in Cambridge have written a cycle routing system, CycleStreets.net, based on open data, and have now released it as a free iPhone app. It's been done on a shoestring, in spare time. There's an API and some disruptive tech in the form of a photo submission screen where street problems can be submitted directly. Because it's open data, you don't have to wait 6 months for the routing to be fixed if there's a bug. Android and .mobi versions are in the works, with the apps being done on GitHub."
Comment Re:Better go after those pirates (Score 1) 160
They're stealing potential profit! It's almost as bad as competition between businesses, or a consumer informing other consumers about a bad company/poorly made product. In all three cases, potential profit is being stolen.
We must stop these people from hurting our businesses. Also, this clearly wouldn't have happened if there had been super powerful DRM installed with the game!
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the business which is going to be suffering the most impact from this leak Bungie? AFAIK Bungie isn't doing anything more than running their own business, not hurting others.
Submission + - PS3 Finally Modded
skirmish666 writes: If it works as advertised, a USB dongle could soon break the PlayStation 3'(TM)s seemingly hackproof seal.
An obscure group called PS Jailbreak is selling a USB dongle that will supposedly modify the PS3 so users can dump backed up (aka pirated) games onto the system’s hard drive to play them just like legitimate copies.
Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/ps3-dongle/#ixzz0x683hJcu
An obscure group called PS Jailbreak is selling a USB dongle that will supposedly modify the PS3 so users can dump backed up (aka pirated) games onto the system’s hard drive to play them just like legitimate copies.
Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/ps3-dongle/#ixzz0x683hJcu
Net Neutrality — Threat Or Menace? 253
Roblimo writes "I had a dream. In it, I was CEO of a large telecommunications company that was also a major broadband Internet provider and all five members of the FCC were stabbing me with pitchforks and yelling in my ear that my company would be treated as a common carrier, not as a special entity they couldn't regulate. That's when I woke up..."
Comment Re:Bizzz.... WRONG! (Score 1) 341
+1 to your line of argument.
My 2c: it depends on your definition of "egg". The way I'd put it the egg as in anything that could be defined as an egg in the biological sense predated the chicken by hundreds of millions of years. The first egg would have dated from around the time of the first life defined as animal. The egg came before the chicken.
On the other hand: an egg as in a chicken egg, ie. something produced by a chicken would have to be produced by the first chicken which had evolved from something that is not quite a chicken. The chicken egg came after the chicken.
Your Feces Is a Wonderland of Viruses 211
sciencehabit writes "Thanks to an anlaysis of fecal samples from four sets of Missouri-born female identical twins and their mothers, researchers have concluded that human guts harbor viruses as unique as the people they inhabit; the viral lineup differs even between identical twins. Even more surprising? These viruses may be doing good work inside of us."
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Internet
92
MMBK writes "Our friends at JESS3 have unveiled The Ex-Blocker. It's a Firefox and Chrome plugin that erases all name and likeness of your ex from the Internet, even if they become a meme, or the president. You'll no longer have to threaten to delete your Facebook account or concoct an elaborate e-hoax to assuage the reality-shattering complications that are born from break-ups. Simply construct an Internet that omits bad vibes all together."
Comment Re:A couple of things (Score 1) 117
From the article:
The state first started using the machines in a limited trial during the last state election in 2006. It appears as if the machines were used for voting for the vision-impaired, as well as for military personnel.
Yeah, I'm in Victoria too and I've never seen an electronic voting machine. Maybe next election...
Comment Re:Payback period? (Score 5, Funny) 562
You're forgetting about the seller listing & paypal fees
Comment Re:Metric Everywhere (Score 2, Insightful) 300
It's also useful for conversion of units - 1,000 cm^3 is equivalent to 1Litre(of water) which weighs 1 Kilogram, 1 Joule = 1 Newton over 1 Meter = 1 Watt Second etc.
Comment Re:Mock ups (Score 2, Insightful) 300
Or for that matter did they not think to try testing the actual module on the ground prior to launch?
Comment Re:Can an Australian brother... (Score 1) 197
Basically... our prime minister known here as K-Rudd is enforcing the "Won't someone think of the children?!?" act. IMO the way this came about is that our current PM who's party is by far the more liberal of the two main powers (interesting fact, the conservative opposition party is actually called the liberal party) got elected into government because he campaigned for the same issues as our previous conservative PM but with a more modern, less "old fuddy-duddy" & slimy political appearance. The swinging conservative voter helped elect him because his policy didn't conflict with their ideals and the youth of Australia helped elect him because he wasn't a drooling 80 year old with a speech impediment who went for a daily "jog" in the countries national colours for the media. Basically our old PM had will and enforced it. Sure, it made the average Joe's life hell and his CEO schoolmates life easy and that was his downfall - there's more average Joe's than CEOs. In reality the only thing that's changed in Australian politics is the work place relations, and even that's been a slow ongoing process. Meanwhile we're still trying to dig ourselves out of being a technological backwater...
Google Rejects Australian Censorship Proposal 197
Xiroth writes "Google has rejected overtures from the Australian government to censor YouTube clips that had been given an RC rating by Australian classification authority, the OFLC. According to a Google spokesperson: 'YouTube has clear policies about what content is not allowed, for example hate speech and pornography, and we enforce these, but we can't give any assurances that we would voluntarily remove all Refused Classification content from YouTube.
The scope of RC is simply too broad and can raise genuine questions about restrictions on access to information. RC includes the grey realms of material instructing in any crime from [painting] graffiti to politically controversial crimes such as euthanasia, and exposing these topics to public debate is vital for democracy.'"
Submission + - ISP wins copyright infringement case vs RIAA (smh.com.au) 2
skirmish666 writes: Members of the RIAA have had their case of copyright infringement thrown out of court against Australian ISP iinet. The RIAA alleged that ISPs are responsible for their users and specifically that iined "Authorized" piracy, the judge decided otherwise.
The giants of the film industry have lost their case against ISP iiNet in a landmark judgement handed down in the Federal Court today. The decision had the potential to profoundly impact internet users and the internet industry as it sets a legal precedent surrounding how much ISPs are required to do to prevent customers from downloading movies and other content illegally. But after an on-and-off eight week trial that examined whether iiNet authorised customers to download pirated movies, Justice Dennis Cowdroy found that the ISP was not liable for the downloading habits of its customers.
The giants of the film industry have lost their case against ISP iiNet in a landmark judgement handed down in the Federal Court today. The decision had the potential to profoundly impact internet users and the internet industry as it sets a legal precedent surrounding how much ISPs are required to do to prevent customers from downloading movies and other content illegally. But after an on-and-off eight week trial that examined whether iiNet authorised customers to download pirated movies, Justice Dennis Cowdroy found that the ISP was not liable for the downloading habits of its customers.
