triskaidekaphile - Slashdot User

Skype Releases Open SDK 108

Posted by timothy on Wednesday June 23, 2010 @04:54PM from the build-it-they-will-come dept.

An anonymous reader writes "SkypeKit gives Linux developers access to core functionality, allowing Linux developers to add video, calling, and instant messaging features to desktop applications. The SDK also comes with the freshly royalty-free SILK codec for high-end audio. Skype is hoping that the inclusion of SILK will popularize the codec, extending its reach. Currently, the SkypeKit beta is only available for Linux on an invite-only basis, with Windows and Mac versions planned in coming weeks. The SDK does not cover Android or Mac, an odd choice considering the announcement of SkypeKit championed itself for extending the functionality of Skype to multiple platforms and devices. Including smartphones in the SDK seems like an obvious move." Ars Technica has a rundown, too.

3rd-Grader Busted For Jolly Rancher Possession 804

Posted by samzenpus on Monday May 10, 2010 @11:10AM from the step-away-from-the-candy dept.

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."

Comment Re:Inalienable Rights (Score 1) 247

by triskaidekaphile on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @10:59AM (#28011929) Attached to: What Should Be In a Technology Bill of Rights?

Getting at the philosophy of the time, they came from a society where a King declared that he was the true and proper ruler by divine providence and that his government was legitimate because he (as an agent of God) said so.

Divine right had been cast down centuries before by the Magna Carta, and George III was not a particularly powerful monarch. The many grievances expressed by the American colonies in the Declaration of Independence were in fact perpetrated by Parliament. Yes, an elective representative body was responsible for trampling the rights of the colonists. The members of the Continental Congresses knew this, and they also believed true power lay in the legislative branch. That's why the Bill of Rights says "Congress shall not..." rather than "government shall not..." Our courts and our society (so far) have decided that the Bill of Rights does indeed apply to all three branches of government and to the state governments.

Recording Music Without the Recording Industry 234

Posted by kdawson on Saturday January 26, 2008 @06:04PM from the free-as-in-tracks dept.

hephaist0s writes "The 2008 RPM Challenge — to write and record an original album in February, just because you can — is about to begin. Hundreds of musicians from around the world have already signed up. Last year, more than 850 albums were recorded as part of the challenge, a testament to what can be done by independent musicians without a label, without the RIAA, and often without a professional studio. The efforts ranged from an album made entirely on a Nintendo Game Boy to a Speed Racer rock opera, produced by both experienced bands and novice musicians, often in continent-spanning online collaborations. Last year's challenge generated one of the largest free jukeboxes of original music available online, built to stream on-demand all 8500-plus original, artist-owned songs. Imagine if grassroots, independent systems like this foretold the future of recorded music and its distribution."

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