plasmasurfer - Slashdot User

Comment Take trips out of the tech world (Score 0) 1354

by plasmasurfer on Monday June 22, 2009 @10:51AM (#28422229) Attached to: Where Does a Geek Find a Social Life?

I'm a scientist (male, divorced, 2 spawned processes) at a government lab, and though at least 40-50% of my coworkers are female, I still have a hard time meeting more of them. My suggestions: get your behind to the nearest community center and take and non-tech-related class such as cooking or dancing. Just get out of your comfort zone and get into any situation that will involve meeting people.

Blu-ray Adoption Soft, More Still Own HD DVD 685

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 22, 2009 @09:48AM from the this-is-still-going dept.

MojoKid writes "A new study by Harris Interactive notes that currently, one in ten Americans (10%) own an HD DVD player, while just 7% own a Blu-ray player. Crazy, right? More Americans own HD DVD right now than the 'winning' format, Blu-ray. If you think about it, that statistic isn't that shocking. When HD DVD was around, it was far and away the 'budget' format for high-def. The players were cheaper, the films were cheaper. In other words, it was a format more ready to thrive in a down economy. Blu-ray was always viewed as a niche format for those absorbed in A/V, not the common man's format. The survey also found that on average, consumers purchased approximately six standard format DVDs in the last six months, compared with one in HD DVD format."

Comment Re:yum, stereotypes! (Score 0) 188

by plasmasurfer on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @01:43AM (#28007661) Attached to: Finding a Personal Coding Trifecta

I'm completely with you on the Steve Reich part (Different Trains, followed by Tehillim) but with a cigar (Montecristo No. 3) and a mug of Earl Grey.

More "Miles Per Acre" From Bioelectricity Than Ethanol 223

Posted by timothy on Thursday May 07, 2009 @03:03PM from the all-depends-on-the-details dept.

CarnegieScience writes "Scientist calculate that, compared to ethanol used for internal combustion engines, bioelectricity used for battery-powered vehicles would deliver an average of 80% more miles of transportation per acre of crops, while also providing double the greenhouse gas offsets to mitigate climate change."

Repairman Steals Hard Drive And Charges To Reinstall It 181

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday May 07, 2009 @02:39PM from the new-geek-squad-terms-of-service dept.

Phase 1: Break into a realty office, and steal a computer hard drive.

Phase 2: Ask if they will pay you $50 to fix the computer.

Phase 3: Get charged with theft and receiving stolen property!

Court Sets Rules For RIAA Hard Drive Inspection 470

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday May 07, 2009 @01:51PM from the this-far-and-no-farther dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In a Boston RIAA case, SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Court has issued a detailed protective order establishing strict protocols for the RIAA's requested inspection of the defendant's hard drive, in order to protect the defendant's privacy. The order (PDF) provides that the hard drive will be turned over to a computer forensics expert of the RIAA's choosing, for mirror imaging, but that only the forensics expert — and not the plaintiffs or their attorneys — will be able to examine the mirror image. The forensics expert will then issue a report which will describe (a) any music files found on the drive, (b) any file-sharing information associated with each file, and any other records of file-sharing activity, and (c) any evidence that the hard-drive has been 'wiped' or erased since the initiation of the litigation. The expert will be precluded from examining 'any non-relevant files or data, including ... emails, word-processing documents, PDF documents, spreadsheet documents, image files, video files, or stored web-pages.'"

Lexus To Start Spamming Car Buyers In Their Cars 317

Posted by timothy on Thursday January 08, 2009 @05:14PM from the even-as-they-sleep dept.

techmuse writes "Lexus has announced plans to send targeted messages to buyers of its cars based on the buyer's zip code and vehicle type. Unlike regular spam, these messages will be delivered directly to the buyer's vehicle, and will play to the vehicle's occupants as audio. Lexus has promised to make the messages relevant to the car buyers." Imagine the fun that some targeted malware could do — not that such a thing could happen to a Lexus.

Comment There is an online petition to Netflix. (Score 0) 508

by plasmasurfer on Thursday June 19, 2008 @12:55PM (#23859811) Attached to: Netflix To Eliminate Profiles Feature

An online petition is already available, with signees agreeing to either move to a cheaper plan, put their account on hold, or cancel their accounts entirely. Netflix must be banking that the improvements to its web site will offset the ill will and lost subscribers that this news has engendered. Let's get our derrieres in gear and sign this petition. So far there are only 462 signatures collected. I'm sure that we can do better than that.

Submission + - How do you score the One Job?

Submitted by

dmayle

on Monday March 12, 2007 @10:21AM

dmayle writes: "We all know how to look for a new job. Polish up your resume, look at the job boards, beg your old college roommate, etc., it's not easy, but it eventually works. What do you do, however, when you want a specific job? How do you go about making the contacts necessary and getting through the recruiting process for your dream job? What if your dream job is in another town, or another state?"

Submission + - The etymology of MS technology names.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08, 2007 @12:44PM

An anonymous reader writes: Why did Microsoft name ActiveX and DirectX what they did? Where does the 'X' come from? I would have added "Windows XP" to the list, even though it comes from a later timeframe (c. 2000 rather than '95 or '96), but then I learned in a Microsoft press release (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2001/Feb 01/02-05NamingPR.mspx) that 'XP' stands for 'Experience'.

Feed The Wait for Watchmen (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed on Thursday March 08, 2007 @11:52AM

Zack Snyder's adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 is here, but we're already wanting more. Watch for a summer production of Alan Moore's canonical Watchmen. In Underwire.

Submission + - Per Apple - Get all your iPod drivers from Dell!

Submitted by

on Thursday March 08, 2007 @11:30AM

An anonymous reader writes: This may or may not be of interest to you. I hope that it may bring to light that Apple needs to improve training in it's tech support centers. If you look at the linked article, you will see several very outlandish and ridiculous things that were suggested to me by Apple support to get my iPod working with Windows Vista. Mind you, I already knew it wasn't supported, was just calling to see if they had an ETA on formal Vista support.

Key points were that Apple doesn't support iPods for Windows and that I was told four times to go to Dell, that only Dell (my laptop manufacturer) could supply proper drivers for my iPods.

Sheer balls. See the entire article for the full chat log transcript.

http://lastaddress.blogspot.com/2007/03/wtf-apple- no-longer-supports-windows.html

Submission + - Duke Grad Builds Beer Tossing Fridge

Submitted by grommet_tdi on Thursday March 08, 2007 @11:22AM

grommet_tdi writes: This guy builds what I think is one of the coolest uses for robotics yet...A refrigerator that launches beers directly to a happy recipient on the couch. FTFA:

"With a click of the remote, fashioned from a car's keyless entry device, a small elevator inside the refrigerator lifts a beer can through a hole and loads it into the fridge's catapult arm. A second click fires the device, tossing the beer up to 20 feet — "far enough to get to the couch," he said."

You can watch the video here, or see it directly on his website.

Submission + - What are the best cell phone services in the US?

Submitted by James Hewfanger on Thursday March 08, 2007 @11:21AM

James Hewfanger writes: Cnet.co.uk has run an article on the five best cell phone services in the UK. These include a text-based service that gets you the number of a licensed cab company in London, Google Maps and Gmail on your phone, a service that can tell what artist and song you're listening to, an online service that backs up all your cell phone contacts and a text-based service that answers any question you can throw at it. What, however, are the five best cell phone services in the US?

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