binary.bang - Slashdot User

Comment Touchscreen? (Score 1) 114

by binary.bang on Tuesday April 21, 2009 @06:04PM (#27667853) Attached to: First Android-Based Netbook, Set-Top Box

The article suggests it might have a touchscreen, while the specs say no such thing. Has anyone seen any evidence either way? At that price, it could be a flipping screen that's meant to be controlled with arrows/trackball

Comment In Japan, Billboard watches you! (Score 2) 133

by binary.bang on Tuesday December 16, 2008 @03:37AM (#26129957) Attached to: In Japan, a Billboard That Watches You

Grammar is overrated.

Comment I knew I should have trademarked my own name (Score 1) 175

by binary.bang on Wednesday December 03, 2008 @03:07PM (#25978451) Attached to: New .tel TLD Now In Use

I could be registering it _right now_ on .tel -whisper- for an obscene amount of money -/whisper-.
anyone know how much registration will cost for individuals at the start of the "landrush" period?

iPhones, FStream and the Death of Satellite Radio 397

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 30, 2008 @12:07PM from the i-guess-music-wants-to-be-free-too dept.

Statesman writes "Only a little over a year ago, the FCC approved the merger of XM and Sirius satellite radio companies and the combined stock was trading at $4 a share. Despite being a monopoly — or perhaps because of it — the company is failing. They are losing subscribers, the stock is now trading around 22 cents a share (a 97% decline), and they have written off $4.8 billion dollars in stock value. So, what happened? The CEO is blaming pretty much everyone except himself and his business model. But is pay-for-bandwidth even a viable business plan anymore? With millions of iPhone and gPhone users out there, free streaming audio applications like FStream, and thousands of Internet radio stations to access, the question is: why would anyone want to pay for proprietary hardware and a limited selection of a few hundred stations all controlled by one company?" Read on for the rest of Statesman's thoughts.

New Gadget Blocks 'Spam' Phone Calls 274

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 22, 2008 @09:24AM from the this-doesn't-sound-right dept.

Smivs writes "The BBC report on a new gizmo that can block/filter spam phone calls. The system basically intercepts all calls. If it recognizes them as a friend or a member of the user's family — numbers on the so-called star list created by the user — it lets them through as normal. If the caller's number is on a zap list — numbers of telemarketers or other nuisance callers — the device answers it, and all future calls from that number, with an automated message which means the phone does not ring at all. If the system doesn't recognize the caller's number, or the caller withholds their number, it asks them who they are, puts them on hold and then rings the user's phone. The user has the option of taking the call, having the system take a message, or they can reject the call and add the number to the 'zap' list. Users can add callers to their 'star' list by pressing the star button on their phone at any point during a call." So wait, they can't spam me twice? If I press a button? And if they actually show their phone number on my caller ID? What about the auto insurance scammers that hit me 10x/week?

Indian Moon Mission Launched 305

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 22, 2008 @08:46AM from the to-the-moon-alice dept.

hackerdownunder writes "India's maiden lunar mission (Chandrayaan-1) got off to a flying start today. Describing the launch as 'perfect and precise,' the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), G Madhavan Nair, said that it would be 14 days before the satellite would enter into lunar orbit. Chandrayaan carries eleven payloads: five designed and developed in India, three from the European Space Agency, one from Bulgaria and two from NASA."

LucasArts, Bioware Announce Star Wars MMO 346

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday October 21, 2008 @10:38PM from the in-a-galaxy-not-so-far-away-after-all dept.

LucasArts and Bioware held a press conference today to confirm what has been suspected for a long time: they're working on a Star Wars MMO. It will be called Star Wars: The Old Republic, and it will be a continuation of the Knights of the Old Republic franchise. Further coverage is available at Gamespot, and IGN has some of the concept art. An official website for the game was launched as well. "According to the game's official announcement, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader, with the galaxy divided by war between the Empire and the Sith. That's about 300 years after the events of KotOR, a time frame that, according to Zeschuk, 'is completely unexplored in the lore.' Players can take the role of either a Jedi, a Sith or other classic Star Wars characters -- and, as perhaps can be expected from BioWare, Muzyka says story will be a major component, underlying and driving all of the player's actions."

Slashdot Top Deals