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Microsoft

ITC Investigates Xbox 360 After Motorola Complaint 71

Posted by Soulskill from the papers-please dept.
FlorianMueller writes "The US International Trade Commission, which is increasingly popular as a patent enforcement agency, voted to investigate a complaint filed by Motorola against Microsoft last month. Motorola claims that the Xbox infringes five of its patents. In October, Microsoft complained against Motorola, alleging patent infringement by its Android-based smartphones. Apple, Nokia and HTC are also involved with ITC investigations as complainants and respondents. A new one-page overview document shows the ongoing ITC investigations related to smartphones and the products that the complainants would like to have banned from entry into the US market. The good news is that any import bans won't be ordered until long after Christmas. The ITC is faster than courts, but not that fast."
Image

Debt Collectors Using Facebook To Embarrass Those Who Owe 266

Posted by samzenpus from the pay-up-or-be-unfriended dept.
Not even the tranquility of FarmVille can save you from the long arm of debt collectors. Melanie Beacham says that a collector from MarkOne Financial contacted her relatives about her past due car note via Facebook. She is filing suit alleging that the company is harassing her family. Tampa based consumer attorney Billy Howard of Morgan & Morgan says, "Now Facebook does a debt collectors work for them. Now it's not only family members, it's all of your associates. It's a very powerful tool for debt collectors to use."

Comment Daylight Savings Change (Score 5, Interesting) 335

by JoelWink (#34199926) Attached to: Mystery 'Missile' Identified As US Airways Flight 808
I think one aspect of this story that hasn't been mentioned is the fact that daylight savings time kicked in the previous day. So, let's say this is a regular weekday flight that arrives in Phoenix in the early evening. After the November 7th "fall back" daylight savings time change, this flight, which may have passed over L.A. in bright daylight on Friday November 5th, is now illuminated on Monday November 8th with dramatic dusk lighting, resulting in a very different looking contrail.
Idle

Pope Says Technology Causes Confusion Between Reality and Fiction 779

Posted by samzenpus from the where's-the-reset-button dept.
Pope Benedict XVI has warned that people are in danger of being unable to discern reality from fiction because of new technologies, and not old books. "New technologies and the progress they bring can make it impossible to distinguish truth from illusion and can lead to confusion between reality and virtual reality. The image can also become independent from reality, it can give birth to a virtual world, with various consequences -- above all the risk of indifference towards real life," he said.
Supercomputing

Computer Defeats Human At Japanese Chess 178

Posted by CmdrTaco from the king-me dept.
Calopteryx writes "A computer has beaten a human at shogi, otherwise known as Japanese chess, for the first time. As New Scientist reports, computers have beaten humans at western chess before, but that game is relatively simple, with only about 10^123 possible games existing that can be played out. Shogi is a *bit* more complex, offering about 10^224 possible games."

Comment Hubble 3D (Score 5, Interesting) 594

by JoelWink (#33478780) Attached to: The Joke Known As 3D TV
The thing I remember most from seeing Avatar in IMAX 3D was actually the trailer for Hubble 3D. I finally saw it today and I was not disappointed. Seeing 3D documentary footage of the shuttle crew prepping for a flight, seeing not one but two shuttle launches in 3D, and seeing numerous spacewalks in 3D was awe inspiring. I find a lot of 3D feature length films to be a little fatiguing, but I think the less gimmicky (although still undeniably gimmicky to a point) IMAX 3D documentaries show the potential for using 3D in a tasteful artistic manner.

Comment Zappos (Score 1) 344

by JoelWink (#33417096) Attached to: Retargeting Ads Stalk You For Weeks After You Shop
I suspect Zappos in particular may be having an issue, or maybe it's by design. I was shopping for a specific style of Sperry Top-Siders (hello 1984) for my daughter a few weeks ago. I'm now seeing Zappos banner ads everywhere with that specific shoe embedded in the ad.
The Military

Military Personnel Weigh In On Being Taliban In Medal of Honor 171

Posted by Soulskill from the identity-conflict dept.
SSDNINJA writes "This is a feature from gamrFeed that interviews nine US service members about playing as the Taliban in the upcoming Medal of Honor. One soldier states that games like MoH and Call of Duty are 'profiteering from war.' Another says, 'Honestly, I don't really see what the whole fuss is about. It's a game, and just like in Call of Duty, you don't really care about what side you're taking, just as long as you win. I don't think anyone cares if you're part of the Rangers or Spetznaz, as long as you win.' An excellent and interesting read."

Comment Re:Why? (Score 1) 328

by JoelWink (#33248638) Attached to: Recycling an Android Phone As a Handheld GPS?
I'm on T-Mobile and use an HTC Dash 3G that I just got on Craigslist. A few weeks ago I was traveling all around Pittburgh, on foot for several city blocks. Even though I had my Garmin GPS in the car with me, I was able to use Google Maps (with real GPS turned on) on the Dash and see precisely where I was while on foot. It was accurate down to a few meters. I loved it.
Image

Girl Quits On Dry Erase Board a Hoax 147

Posted by samzenpus from the take-this-job-and-shove-it dept.
suraj.sun writes "It's the same old story: young woman quits, uses dry erase board and series of pictures to let entire office know the boss is a sexist pig, exposes his love of playing FarmVille during work hours." Story seem too good to be true? It probably is, at least according to writer Peter Kafka. Even so, Jay Leno and Good Morning America have already reached out to "Jenny."

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