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Submission + - Facebook removes activist groups pages (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by jira
jira writes: According to The Guardian Facebook in the last 12 hour removed dozens of politically linked Facebook accounts.

Most notable among them "those for the anti cuts group UK Uncut, and pages that were created by students during last December's university occupations."
Businesses

Submission + - Google's Secret Class System 4

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Back in 2005, a Slashdot commenter pointed out some prior art for Microsoft's badge color-based 'caste' system — Nazi concentration camp badges. Now, Google is taking heat as a terminated Google contractor shines a spotlight on Google's badge color-based 'class' system. According to Andrew Norman Wilson, full-time Googlers sport White Badges, interns are given Green Badges, and contractors wear Red Badges. But what really intrigued Wilson — and ultimately cost him his job — were the ScanOps workers with Yellow Badges who toiled for Google Book Search in Building 3.1459. 'The workers wearing yellow badges,' writes Wilson, 'are not allowed any of the privileges that I was allowed — ride the Google bikes, take the Google luxury limo shuttles home, eat free gourmet Google meals, attend Authors@Google talks and receive free, signed copies of the author's books, or set foot anywhere else on campus except for the building they work in. They also are not given backpacks, mobile devices, thumb drives, or any chance for social interaction with any other Google employees. Most Google employees don’t know about the yellow badge class.' Time for someone to update the official Google Books History?
Apple

Submission + - Forget Google - it's Apple that is turning into t (guardian.co.uk) 2

Submitted by jira
jira writes: "You may think you own your iPad or iPhone but in reality an invisible string links it back to Apple HQ" writes John Naughton writes in "The Guardian". And ads: "Umberto Eco once wrote a memorable essay arguing that the Apple Mac was a Catholic device, while the IBM PC was a Protestant one. His reasoning was that, like the Roman church, Apple offered a guaranteed route to salvation – the Apple Way – provided one stuck to it. PC users, on the other hand, had to take personal responsibility for working out their own routes to heaven."

Submission + - Subscription billing for a small business

Submitted by cptdondo
cptdondo writes: I'm working on a small startup that will need to bill for a subscription service. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what is needed to get a small subscription service going. The startup has simple needs — people sign up, commit to pay a monthly fee, and they get a service. If they quit paying, their account is suspended. And if they try to use the service, they're told why.

Seems that most services out there are designed for large, complex businesses and few have a simple interface for connecting the billing system to service. I have not found any that will put account status into an ldap database, which could be used for user authentication. Where is the equivalent of the Amazon or E-Bay storefront for a small subscription service?
Software

Submission + - Software for touch-screen kiosk

Submitted by markdoran
markdoran writes: I'm creating a touch-screen application for a local museum kiosk. I'm using an Acer 23" touch-screen monitor and a Windows 7 computer. Only the screen will be accessible to users (no keyboard access). What software would you suggest to create a seamless touch-screen application that will allow video, graphics and audio?
Hardware

Submission + - How the Commodore 64 taught me about greed and zea (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by jira
jira writes: Jon Blyth in The Guardian on how How the Commodore 64 taught me about greed and zealotry: On the occasion of the launch of the Commodore 64 Reborn as Atom Equipped Nettop
Commodore 64 Reborn as Atom Equipped Nettop Jon Blyth remebers what Commodore 64 taught him. AMong other things: "But look at it, all brown, ugly and lovely. It taught me so much. The Commodore 64 taught me about zealotry. After upgrading from the inferior ZX Spectrum, I would try to convince the Sinclair loyalists to follow me. I would invite them to my house, and let them see that with just eight colours and a monophonic sound chip, their lives lacked true depth. My evangelism quickly faded into impatience. So, I can now see why American Baptists get so miffy about atheists – it's horrible dealing with people who don't realise how much better you are."
Businesses

Submission + - California back in the Rare Earth mining game (pcworld.com)

Submitted by burnin1965
burnin1965 writes: With increasing prices on rare earth ore, tariffs raised by the Chinese government, and the threat of embargoes that would damage United States high-tech manufacturing Molycorp now has the needed incentive to reopen the California Mountain Pass mine. They will spend the capital needed to implement badly needed updates to environmental controls that will mitigate the radioactive waste water releases that plagued the mine in the past.

Chinese imports in the 90s nearly halved ore prices and the California mine experienced multiple failures in environmental controls that resulted in the release of huge volumes of radioactive waste water. Updating the mine to address the environmental issues was not financially viable due to the cheap Chinese imports so it was closed in 2002. Actions by the Chinese and the ever growing need for rare earth elements have provided Molycorp with the financial incentive to invest in the needed environmental controls and reopen the mine.
Idle

Submission + - Polish twins have two fathers

Submitted by luftskibet
luftskibet writes: A Polish woman has given birth to a pair of twins with different fathers. While still married, she was in a physical relationship with another man. After the birth she apparently has filed for divorce. To prove that her husband was not the father of the children, a paternity test was done — with a rather unexpected outcome. The father of the son is her husband, while her lover can claim paternity of the daughter. Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat cites a piece reported by the Polish news channel TVN24.
Software

Submission + - Tesco moves into software market

Submitted by jira
jira writes: BBC reports that Tesco is to launch a range of budget own-brand PC software, in a move that will pitch the grocery giant against the likes of Microsoft and Symantec. "When it comes to software there is little choice and prices are high," said Tesco buyer Daniel Cook. Tesco said it would offer six packages, including office software, security systems and a photo editing tool.

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Software production is assumed to be a line function, but it is run like a staff function. -- Paul Licker

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