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Comment Re:What these Democrats don't realize... (Score 1) 1128

*Was* a community organizer. Your meme has expired. Barack Obama is PRESIDENT. He is the only man eligible to be President aside from Jimmy Carter that can claim that, period, end of story. He has experience being the most powerful executive in the world.

Sarah Palin on the other hand... hmm... governor of a state of low population, couldn't hack it and quit.

Democrats

Democrats Crowdsourcing To Vote Palin In Primaries 1128

SharpieMarker writes "In what could be the most extreme and influential crowdsourcing project ever, Democrats are beginning to organize to purposely vote for Palin in the 2012 Republican primaries. Their theory is by having Palin as an opponent, Obama will have the best odds at winning reelection. Recent polls have shown that Obama comfortably leads Palin by 10-20 points, but Obama is statistically tied with Romney and barely ahead of Huckabee. They even have a state-by-state primary voting guide to help Democrats navigate various states' rules for voting Palin in Republican primaries."

Comment Re:Mod Parent Up Please! (Score 1) 945

You are right. The FCC can't grant powers to itself. If it does overreach, it gets spanked in the courts. So it is unclear what you are frightened about... the checks and balances are in place, and by your own example, quite effective.

The current rule making, as all successful rule making, is based on EXISTING AUTHORITY ALREADY GRANTED BY CONGRESS. The FCC tried to use its existing authority to create net neutrality rules. The court didn't like how they justified their authority so they sent the FCC back to the drawing board with reasoning that forms a roadmap for the current iteration of the rules. That was version 1.0. This is version 2.0.

Consider the pace at which Congress is able to pass laws. It is glacially slow. In our system of government, enforcement and interpretation are left to the executive branch and the courts. It is the only thing that makes the whole system work... that other branches closer to the practical problems of implementing the law are left to "fill in the blanks." Congress INTENTIONALLY leaves those blanks because it cannot predict every eventuality.

Medicine

'I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!' v2.0 155

theodp writes "Remember those old Lifecall commercials? Well, you've come a long way, Grandma! The NY Times reports on a raft of new technology that's making it possible for adult children to remotely monitor to a stunningly precise degree the daily movements and habits of their aging parents. The purpose is to provide enough supervision to allow elderly people to stay in their homes rather than move to an assisted-living facility or nursing home. Systems like GrandCare, BeClose, QuietCare, and MedMinder allow families to keep tabs on Mom and Dad's whereabouts, and make sure they take their meds. Perhaps Zynga can make a game out of all this — GeriatricVille?"
Input Devices

Microsoft Tech Can Deblur Images Automatically 204

An anonymous reader writes "At the annual SIGGRAPH show, Microsoft Research showed new technology that can remove the blur from images on your camera or phone using on-board sensors — the same sensors currently added to the iPhone 4. No more blurry low light photos!"

Comment Re:WTF (Score 1) 709

"the document does not make many guarantees about freedoms for enterprises or corporations of any sort,"

Mostly true... but it does guarantee freedom of speech for exactly one type of organization: The Press. Guess that's the exception that proves the rule.

Iphone

Apple Blindsides More AppStore Developers 716

For a while now Apple has said it doesn't want "widget-like" apps in the store; but where is the boundary of that fuzzy statement? The developers of My Frame, of which three versions had already been approved for the iPhone/iPad, found out that they had already crossed it when Apple informed them their app would be pulled. My Frame had options to overlay data on whatever photo was displaying: a Twitter stream, weather, etc. When one of the developers wrote to Steve Jobs on a whim to ask what unwritten rule their app had violated, Jobs wrote back: "We are not allowing apps that create their own desktops. Sorry." "I see now why people are so angry at the 'murky' nature of the App Store, and I'm starting to agree with them. My Frame was approved by Apple 3 times (once for each version we released), and ... now, at version 1.2 they decide it's to be removed? How can a company be prepared to invest into a platform that can change at any time, cutting you off and kicking you out, with no course of action but to whine on some no-name blog[?] There is no alternative platform, despite what others may say about Android, it's immature and their app store(s) are a wild west nightmare. It really is Apple's way or the highway...." A few blogs have picked up the story.

Comment Re:Does Not Look Good for Arrington (Score 1) 91

It all hinges on what intellectual property Arrington has. I mean, a web tablet... is that innovative? Really? Web only devices have been around for some time. Making an oversized PDA that only does web browsing does not equal innovation.
So if all the IP he has is trademarks that Fusion Garage is not using, well, game over. Take it as a life lesson and move on.

Businesses

What Can I Expect As an IT Intern? 325

p3np8p3r writes "I'm in college and working towards my Bachelors in Computer Science. Last year I passed both my CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications and now have been offered (via a staffing company) a full-time Internship at a wireless lab of a major laptop manufacturer. The pay is going to be around $8 an hour full-time but that is not my primary motivator. I'm considering this significant decrease in pay from my previous (non-IT) job to be counterbalanced by what valuable knowledge I may gain both in the technical aspects and industry insight while I finish school. This field is all new to me and I don't personally know anyone who has worked in it before who will give me their honest opinions on it. Although I know circumstances differ greatly, in general, what can I expect as an IT Intern? What have been your experiences?"
Government

What Kind of Cloud Computing Project Costs $32M? 158

coondoggie writes "The US Department of Energy said today it will spend $32 million on a project that will deploy a large cloud computing test bed with thousands of Intel Nehalem CPU cores and explore commercial offerings from Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Ultimately, the project, known as Magellan, will look at cloud computing as a cost-effective and energy-efficient way for scientists to accelerate discoveries in a variety of disciplines, including analysis of scientific data sets in biology, climate change and physics, the DOE stated. Magellan will explore whether cloud computing can help meet the overwhelming demand for scientific computing. Although computation is an increasingly important tool for scientific discovery, and DOE operates some of the world's most powerful supercomputers, not all research applications require such massive computing power. The number of scientists who would benefit from mid-range computing far exceeds the amount of available resources, the DEO stated."

Comment Re:Yes, patent system not meant for software paten (Score 3, Insightful) 242

Where do individual authors get off thinking that their incremental improvements on the ideas of other inventors which they released out into the world as a working product get to keep other people from making incremental improvements on top of it and distributing their own products?

Where do authors get off thinking they are doing more than riffing off someone else's chord?

And where do they get off thinking the government needs to enforce a monopoly for them on these derivative ideas?

The Courts

Arizona Judge Tells Sheriff "Reveal Password Or Face Contempt" 624

An anonymous reader writes "Four days ago, deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona conducted a raid against the county government building hosting computers for a law enforcement database. After threatening to arrest county employees who would stop them, the officers proceeded to secure the room and promptly changed passwords on many of the servers. In a hearing on Friday, a Superior Court judge threatened to hold members of the Sheriff's Office in contempt if they did not reveal the passwords by next Wednesday. Following this, the Sheriff's Office claimed to be conducting an investigation against other Superior Court judges. Courts have asked for passwords before, but never under conditions like this."

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