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Government

Submission + - FAQ: How the IE ballot screen works (computerworld.com)

CWmike writes: After an 11-month legal face-off, Microsoft and European antitrust officials signed off yesterday on the ballot screen concept that will give Windows users a chance to download rivals' browsers. But now that the battle's over and the ink has dried, it's time to look closely. Some FAQ examples: What's Microsoft promised? How will it work? How many browsers will be on the ballot? Who decides which browsers? Who will see it? Gregg Keizer delved into the agreement to provide the answers.
Google

Submission + - Why Google should buy Sprint: to save mobile (infoworld.com)

GMGruman writes: Is one tech oligarch better than another? I think in the case of the development of mobile broadband, the answer is yes. And thus, Google should buy Sprint to turn its cellular network into an effective, powerful wireless network that delivers on the carriers' decade-old promise of untethered information flow. The alternative is clear: More dark hints by carriers such as AT&T that they'll meter the heck out of wireless broadband, all while blaming the users whom they happily sell 3G service to for using it too much. The comfy telecom oligarchy needs a shakeup. Google could do it, and further its own cloud, Android, and Chrome ambitions along the way.

Submission + - Entire .SE TLD Drops off the Internet (pingdom.com)

Icemaann writes: Pingdom and Network World are reporting that the .SE tld dropped off the internet yesterday due to a bug in the script that generates the .SE zone file. The .SE tld has close to one million domains that all went down due to missing the trailing dot in the SE zone file. Some caching nameservers may still be returning invalid DNS responses for 24 hours.

Comment I think you're perfectly justified... (Score 1) 11

I have to say that *usually*, when something is GPL'd, I think the binaries should be provided for the same cost as the code itself. If you're selling a product, the code should only be available to the people who purchased it (at least, from you directly). I dislike people who take code that isn't theirs, compile it, and charge people for their "service". The whole X-Chat Win32 binary thing comes back to mind...

Now, I certainly know the license well enough to admit that it isn't required to give binaries for free, but I just feel better when binaries and code are equally free. Your situation, however, is very very different. I don't see you charging for your code: it's 100% free to EVERYBODY on your site. What I see you charging for, whether you admit it or not, is a SERVICE... the service of compiling the software for the iPhone platform (which by itself, I'd dismiss as something payment-worthy), and keeping it on the Apple app store (which costs you $99 a year). So unless the end user has a jailbroken iPhone, the code to them is really useless (if they just want to play the game). Thus, I think you're certainly more justified than you realize (not just legally, here) to charge a menial fee for your compiled objects.

Security

Submission + - RIM Admits BlackBerry Security Hole

nandemoari writes: Research in Motion admitted that they'd discovered a gap that could potentially allow hackers to snag control of servers running the company's BlackBerry system. If that were to happen, intruders could then send emails throughout the system with infected PDF attachments — if opened by recipients (imagine a business partner or family member), the sinister attachment could infect the new systems with malicious code, thereby spreading the issue.
Censorship

Submission + - Adobe uses DMCA on protocol it promised to open

An anonymous reader writes: Despite promising in January to open RTMP Adobe has apparently issued a DMCA take down request for an open source implementation of RTMP. The former SourceForge project page of rtmpdump now reports "Invalid Project". rtmpdump has been used in tools such as get_iplayer and get-flash-videos. Adobe is no stranger to the DMCA, having previously used it against Dmitry Sklyarov.
The Internet

Submission + - Rackable Will Adopt SGI Name (datacenterknowledge.com)

1sockchuck writes: "Silicon Graphics lives, at least in name. Rackable Systems has officially changed its name to Silicon Graphics International and will do business as SGI after completing a $42 million bankruptcy court deal to buy the assets of Silicon Graphics. The Rackable brand will continue to be used for the company's x86 cluster compute products. See The Register and Inside HPC for more."
Biotech

Submission + - UK Scientists Grow Livers From Umbilical Stem Cell

DaWalrus writes: In a double breakthrough, UK scientists at Newcastle University have successfully grown "mini-livers" from only umbilical cord blood stem cells using a NASA bioreactor that simulates weightless conditions. The article is at http://www.physorg.com/news81508036.html. Such miniature livers could allow 1) bypassing BOTH animal and human trials for liver-affecting drugs and 2) provide life saving therapy for patients awaiting liver transplants and 3) possibly allow for the eventual creation of a replacement liver from a patient's stored umbilical blood. No embryos are needed in the technique, which drew praise from ethical groups; it also provides a possible "cash cow" for space industry start ups as entrepreneurs look for ROI generators from investments in space hardware.
Nintendo

Submission + - Wii Virtual Console Lineup Revealed

An anonymous reader writes: Nintendo has revealed the lineup of Wii Virtual Console titles through the end of this year. There are a bunch of NES hits, from Mario Bros. to Zelda, SNES games like F-Zero and SimCity, Genesis games like Golden Axe and Altered Beast, TurboGrafx games like Bonk's Adventure and Super Star Soldier, and Mario for N64.

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