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Comment Re:sad (Score 1) 168

by bonius_rex (#29320017) Attached to: New England Prep School Library Goes Entirely Digital

I actually prefer reading on my Kindle to most paper books. My eyes go buggy reading on a computer screen, too, but the idea that you can't "curl up" with a Kindle is nonsense. I read my Kindle in my comfy chair, in bed, on the toilet, in the waiting room at the doctor's office, etc.

The Kindle's display does not make my eyes go buggy at all.

Really, the only advantage paper books have is that you can't "thumb through" the Kindle, and that graphics / diagrams / photos look like crap on the Kindle.

Comment Re:Kindle isn't the only e-book reader! (Score 1) 116

by bonius_rex (#27892489) Attached to: Princeton Boasts Its Kindle Project Is Noblest

But really I want to stress that the most important "feature" is that is not Defective By Design: with the Kindle you have to send your PDF or HTML files to Amazon to be converted to the proprietary and DRM'ed format used, which will then only work on a single device,

You are entirely wrong about this. You can convert your PDF into a mobidoc on your desktop and copy the prc file to your kindle over the USB port. I do this all the time, and it works out great. No DRM, doesn't involve Amazon at all.

Comment Re:Kindle isn't the only e-book reader! (Score 1) 116

by bonius_rex (#27892455) Attached to: Princeton Boasts Its Kindle Project Is Noblest

but it can also appear as an USB key to a PC) and most important is very open: no DRM bullshit, it runs Linux

I have a first-gen Kindle, and I am quite satisfied with it. It runs Linux too. It's a USB storage device too. It reads non-DRM ebooks just fine. There is "DRM bullshit" if and only if you buy your books from Amazon, which is not a requirement.

I bought it to read books, not to try to get root on it. If getting root is really worth spending an extra $500, be my guest, but I'll keep my money and spend it on books.
Programming

Best Practice For Retiring RSS Feeds? 71

Posted by timothy from the cleaning-up-in-advance dept.
GBJ writes "I work for an organisation that runs seasonal online competition events. Each event has its own news feed which becomes obsolete shortly after the event finishes. We're still getting RSS requests for some events as far back as 2004. I'd like to close a few thousand old feeds and remove the resource hit they cause, but I'm not sure what is the best approach. Currently I'm considering just returning a 404, but I have no idea if there is a better way to handle this. Uncle Google hasn't turned anything up yet, but sometimes it's hard to find something when you don't know what it's called ..."
Space

Stephen Hawking Thinks Aliens Likely 579

Posted by timothy from the they-think-much-the-same dept.
OMNIpotusCOM writes "Noted astrophysicist Stephen Hawking thinks that alien life is likely, albeit primitive, according to a lecture delivered at George Washington University in honor of NASA's 50th anniversary. It begs the question of if we need to consider a Prime Directive before exploring or sending signals too far into the depths of space."

Comment Re:Solar thermal power/solar photovoltaics (Score 1) 648

by bonius_rex (#23102122) Attached to: Tech That Will Save Our Species - Solar Thermal Power
With solar projects in the Mojave there's no risk of spilling oil all over the place.

The fishermen in Prudhoe bay are ok because there hasn't been an oil spill yet. The fishermen in Prince William Sound sing a slightly different tune.

Risking an accident in ANWR in order to extract the last few drop of crude from the Earth doesn't seem like a sensible risk/reward ratio to me.

The Internet

Internet Sites Biased Towards Supporting Suicide 358

Posted by kdawson from the might-as-well-live dept.
Believe It Or Not, I Care About You writes "According to a new study in the British Medical Journal which examined the search results for various suicide-related search terms, the most common results supported or encouraged suicide. Wikipedia was one of the most prevalent sources of information, particularly on suicide methods, although the Wikimedia Foundation itself does not encourage suicide. Other studies have shown that media coverage has an effect on suicide particularly with respect to influencing the method chosen. Interestingly, this study notes that suicide rates actually decreased with increased Web usage in England, perhaps because support is readily available to anyone who wants it."
Government

Fidel Castro Resigns 728

Posted by samzenpus from the end-of-an-era dept.
Smordnys s'regrepsA writes "Fidel Castro, the leader of the island nation of Cuba has declined the possibility of keeping his seat as President, after the February 24th National Assembly election. "I neither will aspire to nor will I accept — I repeat — I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief," Castro wrote almost 19 months after a severe illness caused him to hand power temporarily to his brother Raul."
Republicans

Has Ron Paul Quit? 878

Posted by kdawson from the internet-in-flames-film-at-11 dept.
Lally Singh sends us to the inside-the-Beltway blog Wonkette for a quick take on a letter Ron Paul sent to his supporters. In this analysis, Dr. Paul has basically called it quits. "Late Friday night, Dr. Congressman Ron Paul posted a letter to his fans basically saying it's over, but he will continue talking about his message, and plus it would be completely embarrassing for him if he also lost his congressional seat."
Republicans

Best Presidential Candidate, Republicans 1481

Posted by CmdrTaco from the since-you-can't-build-robo-reagan dept.
A few days ago we posted a story for you to discuss the best presidential candidates for Super Tuesday, but I figured it would be an interesting idea to try that again, but split the discussion into 2 halves. This is the Republican half — please only discuss the Republican candidates in this story. Huckabee, McCain, and Romney only.
Hardware Hacking

Hand-Made Vacuum Tubes 227

Posted by kdawson from the doesn't-suck dept.
djmoore writes "Over at Make Magazine, watch this video of a French amateur radio operator making and testing his own vacuum tubes. It looks like he built much of his own equipment as well. The Make poster notes: 'I love the ease with which he performs these rather high-end skills (like glass forming), the gestural flourishes (like it's hand magic), and the Zelig-esque soundtrack.'"
Microsoft

Turbolinux Is Latest To Sign Microsoft Pact 180

Posted by kdawson from the protection-at-what-price dept.
mytrip sends word that Turbolinux has followed Novell, Linspire, and Xandros in signing a patent and technology agreement with Microsoft. Microsoft pledged not to sue Turbolinux's users for patent infringement. Turbolinux, headquartered in Japan, sells Linux systems mostly in emerging markets such as China and India. The Betanews story speculates on some of the technology benefits Turbolinux might get out of the deal.
Caldera

SCO Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy 421

Posted by Zonk from the a-true-catastrophy dept.
Can you say "the SCO, the" in German? writes "Trading of SCO's stock has been halted on news that SCO has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. This move just so happens to fall on the eve of SCO's trial with Novell. One would think that their prior boasts were mostly bluster, that they believe they have almost no chance of prevailing at trial, and that they're now desperate to protect their executives from SCO's creditors while seeking yet another delay. From the release: 'The SCO Group intends to maintain all normal business operations throughout the bankruptcy proceedings. Subject to court approval, SCO and its subsidiaries will use the cash flow from their consolidated operations to meet their capital needs during the reorganization process. "We want to assure our customers and partners that they can continue to rely on SCO products, support and services for their business critical operations," said Darl McBride, President and CEO, The SCO Group. "Chapter 11 reorganization provides the Company with an opportunity to protect its assets during this time while focusing on building our future plans."'"

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