Comment Re:This just makes sense (Score 1) 1345
Religion is simply your own personal reason that you do X.
No, that would be more like philosophy. I do not have a religion, but I do have reasons for why I do X. And no, atheism is not a religion.
Comment I name them after religious characters (Score 1) 722
...such as buddha, jesus, muhammed.
Fictional people in other words
DSL Installation Fail
371
An anonymous reader writes "Here's an example of fine Qwest workmanship. In our business park, they just installed a DSL connection for our neighbors, for which we share an exterior utility space. They left: a DSL modem stuffed in a cardboard box, wrapped in a Wal-Mart bag, sitting outside in what will be below-zero (F) temps, on top of a bank of ten natural gas meters in some of the driest air of the year. They also left it plugged into an exposed exterior power outlet above a snowbank, with network cables running around the building, through snowbanks, coupled and protected by zip-lock baggies, and into our neighbors office. Not to mention the hack-job of patching the phone cable directly into the demarcation box. And if you're wondering — I was told upon calling them that this is not their problem, and I need to contact my primary phone service provider."
Comment Re:Bait and switch? (Score 1) 257
Sure, it's better than many alternatives.
But maybe, just maybe they shouldn't call it, i don't know, unlimited?
Comment Nominate Assange to the World Press Freedom Prize (Score 4, Insightful) 614
Someone should nominate Assange to UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2011
Imagine if he would have to get parol from a US prison to attend?
Comment And that is your major problem with this? (Score 1) 1270
Sure, speaking another language like that must be almost as hard to find a solution to as, i don't know, building a time machine?
Submission + - New Duke Nukem Forever Demo Clip (reghardware.com)
Trevelyan writes: I did check, and its not April 1st. The register has a Duke Nukem Forever Demo video that was played in a games conference in Amsterdam.
Comment Re:pardon my ignorance (Score 3, Informative) 263
and usually medical databases are quite thoroughly tied down in this respect.
I don't know much about this case, but in Sweden we have a national test for all newborns, where they collect blood to check for a few diseases (PKU, the google is your friend). When they have checked it, they store the information "for research purposes".
When our minister of foreign affairs was killed, the Police requested samples from the database and got them.
So, don't count on the database staying "for research purposes"...
Lie Detector Company Threatens Critical Scientists With Suit 367
An anonymous reader writes "The Swedish newspaper DN reports that the Israeli company Nemesysco has sent letters to researchers at the University of Stockholm, threatening legal action if they do not stop publishing findings (Google translation). An article called 'Charlatanry in forensic speech science: A problem to be taken seriously' was pulled by the publisher after threats of a libel lawsuit." Online translations can be a little wonky; if your Swedish is as bad as mine, this English-language article describes the situation well.
Please No, Not a Blade Runner Sequel 585
bowman9991 submitted a story that ought to make even the most stone-hearted amongst you cry. He says "Travis Wright, one of the writers behind Eagle Eye, has been working on a sequel to Ridley Scott's Sci-Fi classic Blade Runner. Script proposals have explored the nature of the off-world colonies, what happens to the Tyrell Corporation in the wake of its founder's death, and what would become of Rachel. Travis said he intends to write a script 'with or without anyone's blessings.' Director Ridley Scott appears interested in a sequel too. At Comic-Con in 2007 Ridley said, 'If you have any scripts, you know where to send them.' It's doubtful he'll have time anytime soon though. He's already stated his next two science fiction films will be an adaptation of Aldous Huxley's Brave New Word with Leonardo DiCaprio and an adaptation of Joe Haldeman's The Forever War."
Comment Re:Aging is a disease (Score 1) 501
that will be cured.
And no, overpopulation won't be a problem becasue humans, like all biological creatures will only expand to meet the amount of food that is available.
The rest will starve.
I think you and I have a different definition of "a problem".
Rewriting a Software Product After Quitting a Job? 604
hi_caramba_2008 writes "We are a bunch of good friends at a large software company. The product we work on is under-budgeted and over-hyped by the sales drones. The code quality sucks, and management keeps pulling in different direction. Discussing this among ourselves, we talked about leaving the company and rebuilding the code from scratch over a few months. We are not taking any code with us. We are not taking customer lists (we probably will aim at different customers anyway). The code architecture will also be different — hosted vs. stand-alone, different modules and APIs. But at the feature level, we will imitate this product. Can we be sued for IP infringement, theft, or whatever? Are workers allowed to imitate the product they were working on? We know we have to deal with the non-compete clause in our employment contracts, but in our state this clause has been very difficult to enforce. We are more concerned with other IP legal aspects."
Verizon Employees Fired For Snooping Obama's Record 344
longhairedgnome writes "The curiosity in President-elect Barack Obama's phone records came with a high price tag for Verizon Wireless employees. According to CNN, the workers who snooped on Obama's phone records have been fired.
'This was some employees' idle curiosity,' a company source told CNN and added 'we now consider this matter closed.'
Justice served? What about legal possibilities?" Can we expect anyone who followed a warrantless wiretap from the Bush administration to also be fired then? I mean, they violated our privacy as well.
Obama's Mobile Phone Records Compromised, Shared 278
Tiger4 writes "Verizon has confirmed that some of its employees have accessed and perhaps shared calling records of President Elect Barack Obama (coverage at CNN, Reuters, AP). Verizon says the people involved have all been put on leave with pay as the investigation proceeds. Some of the employees may have accessed the information for legitimate purposes, but others may have been curiosity seekers and may have even shared the information around. The account was 'only' a phone, not a BlackBerry or similar device, and Verizon believes it was just calling records, not voicemail or email that was compromised. The articles do not mention the similarity to the warrantless wiretapping or hospital records compromises of recent months. But that immediately sprang to mind for me."
Submission + - 'Judicial Scandal' in Pirate Bay Case (thelocal.se)
dr_d_19 writes: The Local (Swedish online news site in english) as well as others reports that Jim Keyzer, one of the police officers involved in investigating the Pirate Bay case, began working for Warner Bros a few months after 18 month investigation was finished. Peter Sunde, one of the men behind TPB calls this a 'Judicial Scandal'.
