Comment Did they really called it a "feminine accessory"? (Score 1) 48
Reminds me of all the jokes when the "iPad" name was announced (and before!).
And Bloom County's chartreuse flame thrower.
Europe Plans To Ban Petrol Cars From Cities By 2050 695
thecarchik writes "Can you imagine a future — thirty-nine years from now — where there are no engines humming, no exhaust smells, no car sounds of any kind in the city except the presumably Jetsons-like beeping of EVs? The European Commission can, and it has a transportation proposal aiming to do just that by 2050. Paris was the first city to suggest a ban on gas guzzlers in their city core, but this ban takes it to whole different level by planning to phase out all petrol cars completely from the city streets. While Paris was motivated by reduced pollution, the EU has broader aims of reduced foreign oil dependence, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, increased jobs within the EU, and improved infrastructure for future economic growth."
Windows 7 Will Be Free For a Year 528
Barence writes "Microsoft is effectively giving away Windows 7 free for a year with the launch of the Release Candidate. The Release Candidate is now available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, and will go on unlimited, general release on 5 May. The software will not expire until 1 June 2010, giving testers more than a year's free access to Windows 7. 'It's available to as many people who see fit to use it, although we wouldn't recommend it to just your average user,' John Curran, director of the Windows Client Group told PC Pro. 'We'd very strongly encourage anyone on the beta to move to the Release Candidate.'"
Comment Lack of feedback is deadly (Score 1) 129
In case you don't remember, the first multi-touch product was a keyboard. Apple bought FingerWorks and began incorporating its technology into their projects.
But as I wrote previously, the lack of tactile feedback is a deal-killer for anybody who types in their profession. It just makes typing too slow (55 wpm vs. 120 wpm).
Fortunately, the clever folks at FingerWorks (now Apple) have realized that, and they've been busily working on ways to reconfigure the tactile surface dynamically. I hope they work out -- it was very nice not having to move my hands to mouse.
Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.3 Has Landed 161
jaymus of dawning writes with word that, as promised, "Apple has just released the latest major revision of OS X. The update yields improvements to tons of system components and applications including the Software Update system, Address Book, AirPort, Automater, iCal, iChat, Mail, Parental Controls, Spaces, Time Machine and VoiceOver. This release contains 200 bug fixes from 10.5.2. See Apple's release page for all the delicious details."
Submission + - A Better Alternative to ISP DNS (opendns.com)
gmgartner writes: "The article "25 web Sites to Watch" on the PC World site had a few worthy sites, not 25, but that's just my opinion. One that really got my attention was www.opendns.com. As a parent, it's nice to have content filtering that I don't have to configure and monitor — and pay for. As an IT consultant to small businesses, I see an excellent solution for companies looking to reduce the amount of non-work related web surfing that goes on in the work place — believe me when I say that this happens a lot more than bosses would know or admit. OpenDNS claims to have faster response times to, giving me a better internet experience. I'm not sure by which metrics this is measured, but I have notice a bit quicker response time in my day to day activities — just like when I was a kid: I could run faster with my new sneakers!"
Submission + - First US "Twin-Format" HD DVD Disc Reviewe
An anonymous reader writes: There's a new high-def disc format in town — the triple layer HD DVD/DVD "twin-format" disc. While the format made its debut earlier this year in Japan, the first US-released twin disc hits store shelves on June 26, with the release of the anime title, 'Freedom 1.' High-Def Digest got a sneak peek, and gives the disc a tentative thumbs up.
Submission + - Patent Granted for Fault Injection (patentstorm.us)
techlists writes: "A Patent on Fault Injection (#7,185,232) has been granted by our friends at the patent office. This could seriously and negatively impact software/hardware testing across the industry. According to the filing, "A method of testing a target in a network by fault injection, "The method may further include, receiving a feedback from the target to determine fault occurrence.". They've been asked to comment, but will they say anything?""
Submission + - Mickey Mouse previous art
uliafklasaeras writes: Iron Age Vikings created Mickey Mouse 1000 years ago as Swedish archaeologists have discovered. May we finally have the ultimate legal weapon to bring down this Disney icon and, especially, its pernicious effects on copyright extension?
Submission + - BBC On-Demand to exclude Apple and Linux users
startling writes: The BBC Trust has published its provisional conclusions regarding DRM for its On-Demand content.
From a PDF on the BBC website:
"The BBC Executive proposes a digital rights management solution which would require consumers to be using Windows XP (or above) and Windows Media Player 10 (or above) to be able to access seven-day TV catch-up over the internet... Our understanding is that the BBC Executive aspires to offer an alternative DRM framework, which would enable Apple and Linux users to access the service, but has yet to identify a satisfactory solution. In either case, we will expect this to have been addressed within 24 months."
That means the BBC would effectively be giving Microsoft a monopoly for up to two years! More information on the BBC website.
"The BBC Executive proposes a digital rights management solution which would require consumers to be using Windows XP (or above) and Windows Media Player 10 (or above) to be able to access seven-day TV catch-up over the internet... Our understanding is that the BBC Executive aspires to offer an alternative DRM framework, which would enable Apple and Linux users to access the service, but has yet to identify a satisfactory solution. In either case, we will expect this to have been addressed within 24 months."
That means the BBC would effectively be giving Microsoft a monopoly for up to two years! More information on the BBC website.
Submission + - Media companies presume guilt on Bittorrent
kripkenstein writes: "The big media companies immediately assume you are guilty by your mere presence on a Bittorrent swarm, an interesting report reveals. Turns out companies like BayTSP will send shutdown notices to ISPs without any evidence of copyright infringment; all they feel they need in the form of evidence is that you are reported by the tracker to be in the swarm. As the report states,
The report also has other interesting details about how companies like BayTSP operate."For my investigation, I wrote a very simple BitTorrent client. My client sent a request to the tracker, and generally acted like a normal Bittorrent client up to sharing files. The client refused to accept downloads of, or upload copyrighted content. It obeyed the law. [...] With just this, completely legal, BitTorrent client, I was able to get notices from BayTSP.
To put this in to perspective, if BayTSP were trying to bust me for doing drugs, it'd be like getting arrested because I was hanging out with some dealers, but they never saw me using, buying, or selling any drugs.
Journal Journal: Office 2007 Not Finished
Has anyone noticed that Microsoft did not finish Office 2007. The new ribbon interface at the top of the application is complete however, when you click on anything that requires a dialog box to open, the interface is the same as older applications. They did not even bother to change the color scheme to match the applications look. I would think that if the selling point is a new improved "experience" that you would want that experience to be throughout the application.
It seems to me that t
Submission + - Low Power, High Performance 10G
rss writes: "Solarflare, one of the contenders in the 10Gig Ethernet market have just released details of their curiously different Solarstorm product. They advocate a different approach compared to normal TCP offload by doing "partial offload" — the usual stateless offload (IP,UDP and TCP Checksum) is done in hardware but the actual TCP/IP stack runs on the host processor instead of on the NIC as with traditional offload. They claim 2.2W power consumption on their Base-T NIC compared to 10-15W for traditional offload. I must say this idea appeals to me. Could hardware-offload be the killer app for multicore?"
Submission + - Is the U.S. Readying for Ian Attack on Iran?
applemasker writes: Vanity Fair runs a long (but well-written and compelling piece) arguing that the Bush-Cheney team is taking the playbook used in the run-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom and applying it again — this time with Iran in the crosshairs. According to the neocons, Iraq is only the first step of a broader vision for the region. From the article: " 'Attacking Iraq when it had no W.M.D. may have been the wrong step,' says Uzi Arad, the former Mossad intelligence chief. 'But then to ignore Iran would compound the disaster. Israel will be left alone, and American interests will be affected catastrophically.' The article goes on to cite recent subtle shifts in U.S. force dispositions, the growing role of Strategic Command (which oversees nuclear weapons and missile defense) and the deployment of a second aircraft carrier group and minesweepers to the Gulf) to lend credence to its sources who are quoted as saying that "I've heard from sources at the Pentagon that their impression is that the White House has made a decision that war [with Iran] is going to happen."
Submission + - MMOs and Sandbox Games
An anonymous reader writes: Why do so few games truly embrace the sandbox metaphor? GamersWithJobs has their own opinions, and thinks that MMOs may be replacing The Sims as the center of the "emergent gameplay" movement.
Read the thole thing.I don't know if it's a function of age, or experience or perhaps just changing tastes, but my favorite games are increasingly the ones where I can find my own methods of play. I loved that Dead Rising simply gave me a mall, a chainsaw and an army of zombies. Perhaps my love of MMOs is as much related to the opportunity to explore and adventure on my own as any actual construction of gameplay.
