Comment Re:What comes after the book deal? (Score 1) 161
I wonder if he's getting a royalty for the cameo in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Comment Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi (Score 1) 1521
I never paid much attention to when my account was created, but it feels like
Comment Re:Gee (Score 1) 77
And then using them to communicate...
Comment Re:The way we think (Score 1) 1153
While I can agree on the surface the expense and time spent teaching many people who may never use it seems wasteful, I propose that the value of the handful of real genius we see evolve from that exposure who otherwise wouldn't makes it worth it. And as from the rest of us, in the end we do not suffer from knowing too much, but too little.
As well, arguing to limit exposure seems contrary to the discipline being able to grow in the future. The more people you expose to a degree beyond the mundane, the more chances you have of inspiring someone to pursue the field. With more people in the field rather then just those who had set their hearts on math, the more breakthroughs are likely.
I find it disheartening that a math professor would express such ideas, and can't help but suspect that perhaps he might feel his own career has been a waste of time rather then his opinion on the field of math instruction as a whole.
Comment Re:It was a hearing aid (Score 1) 685
This seems the best explanation - certainly more plausible. Someone attending a film opening event then would most likely have the means to acquire and use such a device.
Comment Re:Production cost (Score 1) 205
Last week I bought my parents a Toshiba pre-paid cell phone with 60 minutes that has all the standard cell phone features minus a camera and web browsing. The package included the phone, battery, programmable sim, wall charger, car charger, and a hands free mic/ear piece. They're going on a vacation and don't have a cell so it was an amazing deal for a little road-side security at only 10 dollars. I was pretty amazed, it made me wonder just how marked up all our higher end phones are when they can practically give this one away.
Or perhaps, like subscription plans, they hope that people will just buy more minutes on it and pay it off, but I suspect they're not losing any money if you choose not to.
Submission + - Thailand Blocks Wikileaks; Cites Emergency Rule (google.com)
eldavojohn writes: After bloody anti-government riots in 2005, Thailand enshrined Emergency Rule into its laws which has since resulted in more than a few websites being shut down. In addition to websites, Thailand's government has used this decree to 'arrest hundreds of suspects and silence anti-government media.' Now, they are blocking Wikileaks.
Submission + - Australia considering iPhone app censorship (theaustralian.com.au) 4
srjh writes: Having raised concerns about "the classification of games playable on mobile telephones", the Australian government has now "put the wheels in motion to address this". Under current Australian legislation, video games sold in the country must pay between $470 and $2040 to have the game classified, and due to the lack of an 18+ rating in Australia, if it is not found to be suitable for a 15-year-old, it is banned outright. This is the fate met by several recent titles, such as Left 4 Dead 2 and Fallout 3. Over 200,000 applications are available for the iPhone, many of them games, and developers have raised concerns about the prohibitive costs involved, with many announcing an intention to drop the Australian market altogether if the plan proceeds. However the current loophole constitutes a loss of millions of dollars in revenue for the government, which is currently attempting to have "refused classification" content such as banned video games blocked at an ISP level.
How the Internet Is Changing Language 295
Ant writes "BBC News reports on how the internet is changing language. What was once understandable only to the tech savvy has become common. From the article: 'To Google' has become a universally understood verb and many countries are developing their own Internet slang. But is the Web changing language and is everyone up to speed?'"
Submission + - Restaurant uses social media to exclude patrons (gothamist.com)
RevWaldo writes: From Gothamist: Five former employees of Bowlmor Lanes in New York have filed a lawsuit against Strike Holdings CEO Tom Shannon, claiming he used social media outlets to keep minorities from making reservations at "one of the city’s hottest and most compelling nightlife venues." The suit claims Shannon met with top executives after "incidents" at Bowlmor's restaurant, Carnival, "to discuss possible ways to exclude certain people...such as African-Americans, Asians and Latinos."...The suit claims the workers were asked to look up prospective patrons on Facebook and MySpace to see how they looked and dressed and where they lived. If they didn't fit the Bowlmor customer ideal, they didn't get a reservation.
ISPs Lie About Broadband "Up To" Speeds 547
Haffner writes "Ars Technica has an article detailing the difference between ISP advertised 'up to x Mbps' speeds and the actual speeds, in addition to some possible solutions. They find that on average, the advertised speeds were 'up to 6.7 Mbps' while the real median was 3 Mbps and the mean was 4 Mbps. This implies that ISPs were falsely advertising by at least 50%."
Submission + - ISPs lie about broadband "up to" speeds (arstechnica.com)
Haffner writes: Ars Technica has an article detailing the difference between ISP advertised "up to x Mbps" speeds and the actual speeds, in addition to some possible solutions. They find that on average, the advertised speeds were "up to 6.7 Mbps" while the real median was 3 Mbps and the mean was 4 Mbps. This implies that ISPs were falsely advertising by at least a factor of 50%.
Comment Re:I wish tehy would improve their POS MMI (Score 1) 126
A8's are the perfect secondhand car. They depreciate insanely fast (at least 2-3 times other German luxo-barges) which is crazy for such a high end suite of features.
3rd-Grader Busted For Jolly Rancher Possession 804
theodp writes "A third-grader in a small Texas school district received a week's detention for merely possessing a Jolly Rancher. Leighann Adair, 10, was eating lunch Monday when a teacher confiscated the candy. Her parents said she was in tears when she arrived home later that afternoon and handed them the detention notice. But school officials are defending the sentence, saying the school was abiding by a state guideline that banned 'minimal nutrition' foods. 'Whether or not I agree with the guidelines, we have to follow the rules,' said school superintendent Jack Ellis."
Should the Gov't Pay For Injured Man's Wii? 222
An anonymous reader writes "Politicians in the Australian state of Victoria are currently locked in a debate about whether an injured man should be able to claim the cost of a Nintendo Wii for rehabilitation purposes under worker's compensation. The man's doctor apparently recommended he use the Wii Fit exercise device, but both insurance companies and the government itself have blocked the payment and have now ridiculed the idea as paying for video games. But with the Wii Fit increasingly being used for rehabilitation purposes internationally, does the man have a fair case?"
