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Submission + - Virtual Vigilantism for Megan Meier's family (rottenneighbor.com)

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Sunday November 25, 2007 @09:08PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "http://www.rottenneighbor.com/story.php?title=55926 Bloggers have taken on Megan's cause, with an outburst of virtual vigilantism. The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that dozens of people have apparently been calling local businesses that work with the Drew family's company, which prints advertising. The Drews' home address, phone numbers, email addresses and photographs have also been posted on blogs such as RottenNeighbor.com and hitsusa.com. And there are reports that people are driving through the once tranquil neighbourhood in the middle of the night, screaming, "Murderer!""

Submission + - Bioshock PC is defective by design 4

Submitted by ringbarer on Wednesday August 22, 2007 @01:41PM

ringbarer writes: Kotaku reports that the long-awaited spiritual successor to System Shock has a few shocks for any PC gamers who want to buy it. Customers are discovering that the 'SecuROM' anti-copying technology will only permit them to install the game twice, after which the DVD becomes nothing more than an expensive coaster. As PC Gamers are renowned for rebuilding and reinstalling their machines on a regular basis, it is clear that this will only hurt legitimate players.

Submission + - Major New Discovery in the Ancestry of Man (hughpickens.com)

Submitted by

Pcol

on Wednesday August 08, 2007 @08:41PM

Pcol writes: "The New York Times is reporting a major new discovery in the ancestral line to Homo sapiens that challenges the conventional view that Homo erectus evolved from Homo habilis. Instead, the two hominid species apparently lived side by side in eastern Africa for almost half a million years suggesting "that they had their own ecological niche, thus avoiding direct competition," said Dr. Meave Leakey, one of the co-authors, in a statement from Nairobi. The discovery leaves the early evolution of the genus Homo even more shrouded in mystery and means that both habilis and erectus must have originated from a common ancestor between two million and three million years ago. A fossil search for the common ancestor has drawn a virtual blank. The size of the new Homo erectus skull was also a surprise. "The fact that the skull — probably belong[ing] to a young adult — is so small suggests that the size range of Homo erectus was much larger than we imagined," said Fred Spoor, who discovered the hominin fossils. Homo erectus has always been viewed as similar to Homo sapiens in both body shape and lifestyle but the new discovery of a large sexual dimorphism suggests a family set-up more akin to that of modern gorillas in which dominant males mate with a harem of females."

Submission + - Bush names anti-open source lobbyist as counselor (pressesc.com)

Submitted by

Citizen Pain

on Wednesday June 13, 2007 @02:50PM

Citizen Pain writes: "President Bush today appointed as his counselor a man who received $820,000 from Microsoft to lobby during negotiations over its antitrust settlement as well as to oppose the use, especially within the government, of "open source" systems such as Linux. Enron also paid him $700,000 in 2001 alone to lobby on the "California energy crisis" and thwart efforts to re-regulate the Western electricity market through price controls."

Submission + - Red Planet was once Blue (www.ctv.ca)

Submitted by CowboyRaver on Wednesday June 13, 2007 @02:47PM

CowboyRaver writes: Mars, the rugged Red Planet, may have once been blue according to new research that suggests massive ancient oceans once covered a third of its surface. The discovery was made by a joint Canada-U.S. research team that says it has uncovered evidence of the shorelines of ancient seas. The team's findings are set to be released in the journal Nature on June 14.

Submission + - How to deal with an abusive web host?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 13, 2007 @01:45PM

An anonymous reader writes: I recently sent a DMCA takedown notice to a hosting company, regarding a customer who was blatantly posting copyrighted material from my website, along with attacks against me based on sexual orientation. I was told that, because they agreed with the person's attacks, the offending content would not be removed. They also claim that copyright is irrelevant, because they agree with their customer's "comments." I couldn't believe this response, but upon Googling the name of this host, I found dozens of webmasters and ISPs complaining about legal threats and spam attacks originating from this company. What is the correct way to deal with this issue?

Submission + - Harvard prof: computers need to "forget" m

Submitted by Jessamine on Wednesday May 09, 2007 @12:33PM

Jessamine writes: A Harvard professor argues that too much information is being retained by computers, and the machines need to learn how to forget things as humans always have. "If whatever we do can be held against us years later, if all our impulsive comments are preserved, they can easily be combined into a composite picture of ourselves," he writes in the paper. "Afraid how our words and actions may be perceived years later and taken out of context, the lack of forgetting may prompt us to speak less freely and openly." Will such massive databases make us all act like politicians? Is data retention creating a "panopticon"? These are questions that the good doctor raises.

Submission + - Yahoo closes Yahoo Auctions

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09, 2007 @12:20PM

An anonymous reader writes: Yahoo is closing its Yahoo Auctions service in the UK and Ireland, as well as in the US and Canada. The UK & Ireland service will be closing from 28th June, while the US and Canada version will shut on 16 June.

Yahoo said the US sites will no longer accept listings from 3 June. Auctions Scheduler and Auto Resubmit features will not be available from 4 May.

In a message posted on the US auction site yesterday Yahoo said the decision was made so it could better serve its "valued customers through other Yahoo properties". Yahoo will continue to provide sellers, bidders and buyers with customer care and a limited set of features and tools until 29 October.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=9 309

Submission + - Guessing robots don't get lost

Submitted by Light Licker on Wednesday May 09, 2007 @12:05PM

Light Licker writes: Map-making robots with a sense of direction that make predictions about what's around the corner based on where they've been already have been developed by researchers at Purdue University. It works best in repetitive environments like office buildings — handy for robotic secretaries.

Submission + - Long-range eye tracking for advertisers

Submitted by holy_calamity on Wednesday May 09, 2007 @11:56AM

holy_calamity writes: A Canadian firm has launched a device that can track the gaze of multiple people from up to 10 metres away. Originally developed at Queen's University, Ontario, they hope to sell it to advertisers to allow them to monitor how many people look at their ads. Admittedly they are trying more benign stuff too like better hearing aids, but I doubt that will make up for movie posters that make a song and dance whenever you glance their way.

Submission + - 10 Procrastination Avoidance Tips for Techies

Submitted by kierny on Wednesday May 09, 2007 @11:37AM

kierny writes: Dice.com runs an article on 10 tips for avoiding procrastination. According to researchers, almost everyone procrastinates, and up to 20% of people do so chronically. Overcoming the tendency to procrastinate is especially difficult for techies, give that technology — while boosting productivity — also leads us to distraction, and distractions — Flickr, Skype, IM'ing, BlackBerries — stoke our desire to procrastinate. To help, a leading industrial psychologist recommends a number of techniques to avoid honing your art of delay, from deactivating email notification and killing short-cut buttons, to banishing the Dew and getting separate PCs for work and home.

Submission + - A Newbie-Friendly Guide to Switching to Linux

Submitted by notthatwillsmith on Wednesday May 09, 2007 @11:29AM

notthatwillsmith writes: I just posted Maximum PC's June cover story, a practical feature explaining exactly what a typical user needs to switch to Linux. I used Ubuntu Feisty as our example distro, but our instructions should work with most any Debian-based distro. While we did include the standard install walkthrough, we also spent a lot of space introducing the apps that people will need to handle common Windows tasks, like ripping CDs, editing and managing photos, and watching videos. Also, we've released the entire article under a Creative Commons license, so if you don't like our instructions, feel free to rewrite them and re-release them yourself!

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