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Comment 120 (Score 1) 264

by richardoz (#34230034) Attached to: Minutes I spend on the phone, on a typical day:
I telecommute 100%. My coworkers are all over the world. We use IM, Email and phone as appropriate. We commonly elevate text threads on IM or Email to a phone calls. Once the phone call is complete, we may follow up the conversation with written specs etc if necessary.

Comment 1..2..3... Profit (Score 1) 218

by richardoz (#33741196) Attached to: Las Vegas Hotel Vdara an Accidental Death Ray
Ah.. I have an idea a simple 7 step plan for profit:
1. Build crazy concave building with highly reflective glass
2. Insure building has an acute focal point for sunlight in the afternoon
3. Build pool deck at focal point to insure maximum people density
4. Sell bathers and “sun worshipers” some “protective” solar cells
5. Wire ‘em up to the utility grid
6. Sell the electricity
7. Profit. $$$
Role Playing (Games)

Looking Back At Dungeons & Dragons 189

Posted by Soulskill from the lightning-bolt dept.
An anonymous reader sends in a nostalgic piece about Dungeons & Dragons and the influence it's had on games and gamers for the past 36 years. Quoting: "Maybe there was something in the air during the early '70s. Maybe it was historically inevitable. But it seems way more than convenient coincidence that Gygax and Arneson got their first packet of rules for D&D out the door in 1974, the same year Nolan Bushnell managed to cobble together a little arcade machine called Pong. We've never had fun quite the same way since. Looking back, these two events set today's world of gaming into motion — the Romulus and Remus of modern game civilization. For the rest of forever, we would sit around and argue whether games should let us do more or tell us better stories."
Games

The Murky Origins of Zork's Name 70

Posted by Soulskill from the murky-enough-for-a-grue dept.
mjn writes "Computational media researcher Nick Montfort traces the murky origins of Zork's name. It's well known that the word was used in MIT hacker jargon around that time, but how did it get there? Candidates are the term 'zorch' from late 1950s DIY electronics slang, the use of the term as a placeholder in some early 1970s textbooks, the typo a QWERTY user would get if he typed 'work' on an AZERTY keyboard, and several uses in obscure sci-fi. No solid answers so far, though, as there are problems with many of the possible explanations that would have made MIT hackers unlikely to have run across them at the right time."

Comment Any other alternative to the high speed chase? (Score 2, Insightful) 194

by richardoz (#29593017) Attached to: Massachusetts Police Can't Place GPS On Autos Without Warrant
I would think that is is preferable to track a suspects car (at a distance) using one of these devices than to persue them at close range causing a "high speed chase". A number of innicent persons have been hurt as a result of police persuits. Not every police department can have a helicopter ready for these due to cost constraints.
Patents

Twitter Faces Patent Infringement Lawsuit 236

Posted by Soulskill from the stupid-but-predictable dept.
Digital Dan writes "Twitter is being sued for patent infringement. Surprised? OK, probably not, but you'd think the plaintiff would at least wait for Twitter to actually make money before striking. According to TechCrunch: 'Twitter is being sued ... by TechRadium, a Texas-based technology company which makes mass notification systems for public safety organizations, the military, and utilities.' The abstract to patent #7130389 describes it: 'A digital notification and response system utilizes an administrator interface to transmit a message from an administrator to a user contact device. The system comprises a dynamic information database that includes user contact data, priority information, and response data. The administrator initiates distribution of the message based upon grouping information, priority information, and the priority order.' Two other patents are involved as well."
Privacy

Homeland Security Department Testing "Pre-Crime" Detector 580

Posted by timothy from the when-dowsing-meets-voight-kampff dept.
holy_calamity writes "New Scientist reports that the Department of Homeland Security recently tested something called Future Attribute Screening Technologies (FAST) — a battery of sensors that determine whether someone is a security threat from a distance. Sensors look at facial expressions, body heat and can measure pulse and breathing rate from a distance. In trials using 140 volunteers those told to act suspicious were detected with 'about 78% accuracy on mal-intent detection, and 80% on deception,' says a DHS spokesman."

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