Comment Re:Even more interesting (Score 2, Insightful) 315
They need a pretty big recoding to filter out non-genuine results completely.
Comment Re:Even more interesting (Score 2, Insightful) 315
I don't blame Google that much for this, it is just showing what most users are wondering [out loud].
Comment Interested in something else. (Score 3, Funny) 315
Forget the ad, I want that Internet Connection.
Google Airs Super Bowl Ad 315
theodp writes "CNET's hunch that Google might run a Super Bowl ad entitled 'Parisian Love' proved to be well-founded. The ad just ran (did you know that you can search the Internet using Google?), and Apple certainly doesn't have to worry about losing its claim to having produced the best Super Bowl ad ever. In fact, you might want to check out the spoof 'Parisian Love' apparently inspired — 'Is Tiger Feeling Lucky?' — if you want to see a better pitch for Google."
Comment Re:Bastards (Score 1) 161
Couldn't agree more. There might be a lot more people in China ready to keep the business going, but there are not going to be that many in US. It'll be a surprise for me if they got away because of some powerful contacts.
Comment Re:It might be true, but it's also irrelevent. (Score 2, Interesting) 192
I don't assume they included Wikipedia in the "user generated" category, otherwise that much non-bogus content would have definitely tipped the scale a bit.
In my personal experience however, even without wikipedia, I have not come across that much bogus stuff on forums and random comments.
Comment Re:Only if... (Score 1) 427
Is the "requirement" of wearing seat belts, not smoking near gas station and cars having ABS and airbags also fascism and a mark on freedom?
Continuing with driving analogy, every car needs to pass some safety, security and emission checks, otherwise it is not allowed on the road. If requirement is a strong word here (its not like I am debating in a courtroom anyway), you can replace it with "recommendation" in your head. I think I am going to exercise my right of free speech, just like you are expressing your thoughts.
Comment WHAT? (Score 2, Interesting) 117
This is absolutely frightening. Now I'll have to read the privacy statements to see if they share credit card information with other companies also? What exactly do the claims of "You are secure" and sort mean?
Fortunately my bank has disabled on-line transactions by default, and neither do I ever intend to click any ad while using my card. But I think that a lot of credit cards are activated for internet use, and
Information about joining the membership program and its ramifications, including the fact that the consumer is agreeing to transfer his or her credit or debit card account information, is buried in fine print and cluttered text.
is a terrible prospect as just seeing an ad doesn't usually mean agreeing to the purchase UNTIL we click on billing and shipping information.
GameStop, Other Retailers Subpoenaed Over Credit Card Information Sharing 117
New York State's Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, has subpoenaed a number of online retailers, including GameStop, Barnes & Noble, Ticketmaster and Staples, over the way they pass information to marketing firms while processing transactions. MSNBC explains the scenario thus: "You're on the site of a well-known retailer and you make a purchase. As soon as you complete the transaction a pop-up window appears. It offers a discount on your next purchase. Click on the ad and you are automatically redirected to another company's site where you are signed up for a buying club, travel club or credit card protection service. The yearly cost is usually $100 to $145. Here's where things really get smarmy. Even though you did not give that second company any account information, they will bill the credit or debit card number you used to make the original purchase. You didn't have to provide your account number because the 'trusted' retailer gave it to them for a cut of the action." While there is no law preventing this sort of behavior, Cuomo hopes the investigation will pressure these companies to change their ways, or at least inform customers when their information might be shared.
Submission + - Could a machine ever become conscious? (silicon.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Interesting interview with neuroscientist Susan Greenfield and philosopher Ron Chrisley discussing intelligence and consciousness in the context of artificial intelligence. Can intelligence be manufactured? How can scientists build intelligent machines when biological intelligence remains so mysterious?
Greenfield says: "My own view is that you can't disembody the brain. That it has to be seen in the context of the whole body because the brain doesn't work in isolation, it works with the immune system and the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system — as well as itself, the central nervous system. Otherwise you have biological anarchy and I think we have to think of the brain as part of a body, working in concert with the rest of the body."
Greenfield says: "My own view is that you can't disembody the brain. That it has to be seen in the context of the whole body because the brain doesn't work in isolation, it works with the immune system and the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system — as well as itself, the central nervous system. Otherwise you have biological anarchy and I think we have to think of the brain as part of a body, working in concert with the rest of the body."
Submission + - Graphene Transistors 10x faster than Silicon (technologyreview.com)
Asadullah Ahmad writes: IBM has created transistors made from carbon atoms, which operate at 100 gigahertz, while using a manufacturing process which is compatible with current semiconductor fabrication. With silicon close to its physical limits, graphene seems like a viable replacement until Quantum Computing gets to desktop.
Researchers have previously made graphene transistors using laborious mechanical methods, for example by flaking off sheets of graphene from graphite; the fastest transistors made this way have reached speeds of up to 26 gigahertz. Transistors made using similar methods have not equaled these speeds.
Comment It is spreading.... (Score 2, Funny) 236
The sanity is finally spreading, which started from Australia. A few more of similar statements from Government officials, or even some cases appearing in media where customers were blackmailed like this, and users might not be bullied any more just because they use Internet.
Submission + - iFreeTablet to compete with iPad? (ifreetablet.com)
logback writes: "Given the fierce competition in the market of the tablets where all the big companies in the sector: Apple, Google and Microsoft have an alternative in the market or in development, a Spanish company presents after Apple a cheapest option, based on free software.
On February 4 will be presented, the iFreeTablet, capping more than 20 years of research of EATCO Group at the University of Cordoba in the field of usability, ergonomics and adaptive devices as an alternative to the new Apple tablet.
iFreeTablet is one of the Orvita2 project star devices and one of the products resulting from the IPTVMunicipal Avanza project. Professor Carlos de Castro Lozano, director of the EATCO research group will make the presentation of this solution in the rectory of the University of Cordoba.
The iFreeTablet is intended as a bridge to break the digital divide between advanced users, Web 2.0 enthusiasts and those who have never used a personal computer. Advanced functionality is combined with a highly intuitive interface to achieve that goal.
The iFreeTablet, unlike the Apple tablet priced output estimated around 600 €, moves around 300-400 € and software features can evolve with the help of the free software comunity developers.
The iFreeTablets OS is based on Debian."
On February 4 will be presented, the iFreeTablet, capping more than 20 years of research of EATCO Group at the University of Cordoba in the field of usability, ergonomics and adaptive devices as an alternative to the new Apple tablet.
iFreeTablet is one of the Orvita2 project star devices and one of the products resulting from the IPTVMunicipal Avanza project. Professor Carlos de Castro Lozano, director of the EATCO research group will make the presentation of this solution in the rectory of the University of Cordoba.
The iFreeTablet is intended as a bridge to break the digital divide between advanced users, Web 2.0 enthusiasts and those who have never used a personal computer. Advanced functionality is combined with a highly intuitive interface to achieve that goal.
The iFreeTablet, unlike the Apple tablet priced output estimated around 600 €, moves around 300-400 € and software features can evolve with the help of the free software comunity developers.
The iFreeTablets OS is based on Debian."
Comment Only if... (Score 1, Insightful) 427
Add the first requirement of not using IE, and then we might entertain the thought, and start some serious discussion.
Comment Bad bad Idea. (Score 2, Insightful) 301
Anything that gives too much centralized and easy access to thousands of users' data is a terrible thing to even consider, be it for Police or whatever.
Law enforcement agencies are not filled with angles who will just stick to a line if they have access like this.
