Comment Re:Browsing in spreadsheets is not new (Score 2, Insightful) 72
You've always been able to load a URL into a spreadsheet...
I must have missed that feature while playing around with Lotus 1-2-3 and VisiCalc back in the 80s.
Comment Re:eh (Score 2, Insightful) 618
Yes, but she admitted herself that the way the law was worded it could be used to ban books. She defended the law for it's good uses and simply said that it's ok that it could be used to ban books because "no one would ever use the law for that." It's similar to defending a law that made jaywalking a crime, and made it legal for the president to rape people because "no one would ever use the law for that." Yes, that is an extreme example, but I consider anything so blatantly unconstitutional to be extreme.
She might not have outright supported banning books, but she was fine with a law that could let it happen. The law is unconstitutional. Defending, voting for, or introducing a bill or law that you know full and well is unconstitutional while in a position of political authority should be criminal. If it's found that a law is too broad, or could be easily twisted to do bad things, fix it. If the same people keep trying to pass bad laws they need to be removed from power.
Both parties are guilty of these kinds of appointments. All they seem to care about is if the appointee is allied with their party and support a few of their pet causes. Who cares if they have a few other views that are insane, we'll just try to cover that up or accuse the other side of being petty because they're not happy the appointee isn't allied with their party.
Sorry about the ranting, but watch C-Span for any length of time and your eyes are opened to just how corrupt the whole system is and you start getting a little angry about things.
Comment Re:Anger. (Score 1) 764
What's with all these Microsoft old guys wearing sweaters?
Seriously. Bill Gates had a sweater. Ballmer has some ratty-ass sweater. Is that supposed to be endearing? If so, to whom -- other old guys on the golf course?
Appearances count, and as long as Ballmer is the pitchman for the stuff -- overweight and dressed in some 10 year old cartigan -- not only will I not take Microsoft seriously, but I don't want to have anything to *do* with Microsoft anymore.
Comment oldest timestamp vs oldest file (Score 5, Funny) 375
I have a text file I just created that's dated January 1st, 1753. The poll wasn't exactly clear on whether the file had to actually have been created on the date the timestamp says it was.
Comment Re:Car insurance? (Score 1) 637
I'd imagine the transit pass would be useful for obtaining new employment. Not having transportation while unemployed is extremely frustrating when searching for new work.
Bitcoin Releases Version 0.3 491
Teppy writes "How's this for a disruptive technology? Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer, network-based digital currency with no central bank, and no transaction fees. Using a proof-of-work concept, nodes burn CPU cycles searching for bundles of coins, broadcasting their findings to the network. Analysis of energy usage indicates that the market value of Bitcoins is already above the value of the energy needed to generate them, indicating healthy demand. The community is hopeful the currency will remain outside the reach of any government." Here are the FAQ, a paper describing Bitcoin in more technical detail (PDF), and the Wikipedia article. Note: a commercial service called BitCoin Ltd., in pre-alpha at bitcoin.com, bears no relation to the open source digital currency.
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Related: Crypto Tools
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Related: Crypto Tools
Quantum Physics For Everybody 145
fiziko writes in with a self-described "blatant self-promotion" of a worthwhile service for those wishing to go beyond Khan Academy physics: namely Bureau 42's Summer School. "As those who subscribe to the 'Sci-Fi News' slashbox may know, Bureau 42 has launched its first Summer School. This year we're doing a nine-part series (every Monday in July and August) taking readers from high school physics to graduate level physics, with no particular mathematical background required. Follow the link for part 1."
DHS Wants To Monitor the Web For Terrorists 285
a user writes "Under the belief that terrorists are 'increasingly' recruiting US citizens, Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano says that increased government monitoring of the Internet is necessary to thwart them. It is believed that Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hassan and attempted Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad were inspired by radical Internet postings. Speaking at a meeting of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, Napolitano said, 'We can significantly advance security without having a deleterious impact on individual rights in most instances. At the same time, there are situations where tradeoffs are inevitable.'"
$1 Trillion In Minerals Found In Afghanistan 688
a user writes "American geologists working with the Pentagon have discovered deposits of iron, copper, cobalt, gold, and lithium of incredible bounty, amounting to nearly $1 trillion. In fact, the lithium deposits are so vast, an internal Pentagon memo has stated that Afghanistan could become the 'Saudi Arabia of lithium.' The wealth of the deposits completely flattens the current GDP of Afghanistan, estimated at about $12 billion. Mining would completely transform the economy of Afghanistan, which presently is propped up by the opium trade and foreign aid. However, it could take decades for extraction to reach its full potential due to the war, the lack of heavy industry in the country, and a corrupt national government."
Pentagon Seeking Out Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange 628
a user writes "The Pentagon is desperately seeking the 'cooperation' of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, in order to stop him from releasing over 250,000 pages of confidential foreign policy documents. The documents were allegedly provided to Assange by Bradley Manning, the same solider who leaked a video showing a US Army helicopter killing unarmed civilians and international press correspondents."
Comment Something well under an hour. (Score 1) 454
The battery in my laptop is basically totally dead. It's only there because it's required for some reason even while plugged into an outlet. If I unplug it the laptop instantly turns off.
Comment Re:Double ouch. (Score 1) 472
Reasons I've seen:
They advertise the best. Most people in management positions won't go with something they've never seen in an ad on T.V.
"If it's so good then why haven't I ever heard of it?"
They cost the most.
"Something that cheap couldn't possibly be any good."
Ed Roberts, Personal Computer Pioneer, 1941-2010 110
A user writes "CNET and the Huffington Post both report the death of Henry Edward Roberts, best known to all of us as the inventor of the Altair computer, at the age of 68 from pneumonia. As it happens, I never got to use an Altair, but I did meet Ed once, back in the mid-1980s. Since that time, I've never referred to the Altair bus as the 'S100' bus, since I agree with him that an inventor is entitled to name his invention." Updated 7:40 GMT by timothy: Roberts was 68, not 88 as originally stated; thanks to the readers who pointed out the typo.
Technical Objections To the Ogg Container Format 370
A user writes "The Ogg container format is being promoted by the Xiph Foundation for use with its Vorbis and Theora codecs. Unfortunately, a number of technical shortcomings in the format render it ill-suited to most, if not all, use cases. This article examines the most severe of these flaws."
Comment Smaller companies? (Score 4, Insightful) 507
It might not be an undue burden to Amazon, but what about smaller online companies? You could use software to manage the collecting of sales tax for everything but the real problem comes to sending off that money to every town, county, and state that collects sales tax. Someone buys something for a couple bucks and suddenly you have to send payments of a few cents to three different places. Even if you save it all up and send it bi-yearly you could be looking at thousands of separate payments based on how widespread your client base is.
You can't just look at a huge company with millions in revenue and make a one size fits it all decision.
