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Comment Re:Not a robot conspiracy (Score 1) 235

by illuminatedwax (#26225473) Attached to: Software-Generated Paper Accepted At IEEE Conference

Nope, 1 sentence is really all it takes, because the first sentence has this gem:

"based entirely on the assumption that the Internet and active networks are not in conflict with object-oriented languages"

This is like saying, "The American highway system is based entirely on the assumption that roads are not in conflict with CD players."
Networking

Submission + - How reliable is FTP?

Submitted by NetKidoo
NetKidoo writes: Hi Slashdot Community, I am a software engineer. Recently there was an incident at my work regarding FTP. When we release our final work product to our clients the usual procedure is as follows: 1. Test the final work product 2. Upload this to an FTP server 3. Download this from FTP Server 4. Do a validation of this downloaded work product. It happened that one of my colleagues objected to my way of doing this. He was of the opinion that this is redundant effort which I was putting to validate the downloaded work product from FTP server. What does the community feel about this? Though logically it appears there can be nothing wrong with this, Can there be any issues if I do not do this so called 'redundant' validation? I would be very interested to hear from the Geeks of slashdot community. Thanks ~Netkidoo
Censorship

Submission + - Livejournal Bans 500+ Journals for "Pedophliia

Submitted by
illuminatedwax
illuminatedwax writes: "When online watchdog group Warriors For Innocence began reporting journals and communities whose content involved pedophilia or incest to LiveJournal, they responded that the communities were not breaking any actual Terms of Service and therefore couldn't be deleted. The watchdog group then sent LiveJournal an open letter. LiveJournal then deleted over 500 communities whose listed interests could be related to pedophilia (such as "incest"). Some of the deleted groups include accounts for role-playing characters that were entirely fictional, fandom communities for fictional pedophilia (e.g. Harry Potter slash), support groups for survivors of incest or child abuse, and even a Spanish journal devoted to the discussion of the Russian novel Lolita by Nabokov. There were also a handful of what legitimately appeared to be predatory journals shut down as well. LiveJournal users have responded by warning fellow users, writing the Warriors of Innocence (reply), and moving to other journal hosting sites such as GreatestJournal. The Warriors of Innocence are maintaining that they did not intend for most of these journals to be deleted, and LiveJournal is already replying to some users. What should LiveJournal's responsibility be in keeping their site free from predators?"
Anime

Submission + - The Academic Anime Convention

Submitted by
illuminatedwax
illuminatedwax writes: "The University of Chicago Japanese Animation Society is having its third annual Uchicon, a mini-anime convention, this Saturday. But what makes this convention different from the countless others is that it looks at anime from an academic perspective rather than as a consumer. Graduate and post-grad students as well as artists are invited to speak about sociological and artistic issues regarding anime, making it a blend between a conference and a convention. This year the main speakers are Deborah Shamoon, who will discuss how The Rose of Versailles has been altered over the years, and how that relates to issues such as homosexuality and cross-dressing; and Christopher Bolton, who will talk about vampirism as a metaphor for postwar politics in Blood: The Last Vampire. And like any convention, there will be a panel of local artists, video game tournaments, screenings, and other events."
Software

Submission + - Enso Humanizes Windows

Submitted by
illuminatedwax
illuminatedwax writes: "The Wall Street Journal's Walter S. Mossberg's latest column is a writeup on a new software system called Enso. Enso is from a small software startup called Humanized, led by Aza Raskin. The software allows Windows users to do common tasks, like launching programs, spellchecking, or Googling for search terms, but what's interesting is that it allows you to do these tasks from within any program in Windows by use of the keyboard. From the article:
There are two initial Enso products, which can be downloaded at humanized.com. One, called Enso Launcher, allows you to launch programs and switch among windows via typed commands. The other, called Enso Words, allows you to do spell-checking, even when the program you're using doesn't include that capability, and to look up the meaning of words. Both products also include a simple calculator and the ability to launch Google searches.
Humanized says that users will be able to program their own commands for Enso in future versions."

Listening Robot Senses Snipers 303

Posted by CowboyNeal from the careful-what-you-say dept.
Dr. Eggman writes "Popular Science has a brief piece on the RedOwl, a brainy-looking flightless robot that can 'read a nametag from across a football field and identify the make and model of a rifle fired a mile away simply by analyzing the sound of the distant blast.' For a paltry $150,000, the machine utilizes robotic hearing technology originally developed by Boston University's Photonics Center to improve hearing aids to sense a shot fired and pinpoint its source, identify it as a hostile or friendly weapon, and illuminate the target with a laser visible only with night vision. The RedOwl, built on an iRobot packbot platform and controlled via a modified Xbox videogame controller, can figure out the location of a target 3,000 feet away, allowing troops to call in a precision air strike."
Portables

Submission + - Aid org accuses MIT, Negroponte of exploiting poor

Submitted by Tookis
Tookis writes: Scandinavian-based aid organisation FAIR has accused the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, orchestrated by Nicholas Negroponte and MIT, of exploiting poor countries and misleading them into taking a high investment risk for a new type of technology, the success of which is very uncertain. FAIR reckons using recycled PCs is much better. http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8721/53/
Editorial

Submission + - An Underdog Story: How the Wii Became Number One

Submitted by
John Misak
John Misak writes: "GWN have published a thought-provoking editorial piece on the past, present and future of the Wii and PS3. From the article:

"Has the world gone mad? At this time last year Sony was sitting comfortably on top of the gaming console hill. Nintendo rolled the dice with the Wii and it seems to have come up seven for the company, while Sony is constantly betting the hard eight and losing chips by the handful.

Sony still sits atop the gaming heap, but may not be resting all that comfortably these days. It's interesting that the first few PS3 consoles sold in the US came with a Blu-Ray copy of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby because Sony is now a bit like Will Ferrell's Ricky, seeing that competitor coming up fast from behind. Instead of a gay French NASCAR driver, it's an Italian plumber coming by way of Japan, Sony's home turf.

An in-depth look at exactly how it happened."
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - DigiPen Forces Slamdance Reinstatement

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Slamdance saga continues. Water Cooler Games is reporting that DigiPen Institute of Technology has re-admitted Toblo as a finalist against the creators' wishes. Apparently, DigiPen possesses the game's IP and has decided to overrule the team's previous decision to withdraw from the festival. The team has stated on their website that they will not present their game at the festival and plan on refusing any awards it might receive.
Robotics

Submission + - Nanobot to perform surgery

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An international team of scientists is developing what they say will be the world's first microrobot — as wide as two human hairs — that can swim through the arteries and digestive system. The scientists are designing the 250-micron device to transmit images and deliver microscopic payloads to parts of the body outside the reach of existing catheter technology.
Media

Submission + - Myspace is in the midst of a lawsuit.

Submitted by
bluesuns
bluesuns writes: "It's finally happened, a blow at myspace with at least some merit and an expectation of implications. A teen's family is sueing myspace for "irresponsible" behavior for the attack of their daughter by another myspace member. According to Mike of techdirt.com, "A mother and her teen daughter are now suing MySpace and News Corp. for $30 million for not protecting the 14-year-old girl from being sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old boy. Clearly, the 19-year-old was at fault here — and has been arrested for his actions. " Clearly, though not a joke for the victim, myspace is becoming another source of money for individuals who like to play the blame game. The actions of the predator is the true "irresponsible" behavior. It's easy to target a multimillion dollar industry on those grounds these days though. The victim is still a victim, but squeezing millions from an internet website isn't going to solve anything. To be honest, it's the parents fault in the first place for not watching what their children do. This is echoed constantly, but no one ever listens."
Security

Submission + - Yankee Report admits Anti-Virus is Dead (finally)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Yankee Group has just quietly released a report that could really get the security industry talking — if anyone knew about it. Why Yankee chose to release this a few weeks before the RSA 07 conference, rather than *at* the conference is anyone's guess. But report, "Anti-Virus Is Dead; Long Live Anti-Malware" seems to indicate that the researcher is finally willing to talk about the security industry's dirty little secret, "...Today's anti-virus products are overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of malware variants. By 2009, anti-virus as we know it will be dead."
Data Storage

Submission + - CIBC loses info on 470,000 Canadians

Submitted by __aaaehb3101
__aaaehb3101 writes: From The Globe and Mail article..." The personal information of nearly half-a-million customers at a CIBC mutual fund subsidiary has gone missing, prompting fears of a potential security breach and inciting an investigation from Canada's federal privacy commissioner
Microsoft

Submission + - Vista Beta Users Get First Taste of DRM

Submitted by
darkonc
darkonc writes: "Some people testing Microsoft's Windows Vista got an unexpected holiday surprise: their TVs stopped working.... Microsoft blames this on the fact that they only licensed the MPEG2 CODED for RC1 until the end of 2006 (Beta users were told that the software was good until April), but even people with third party decoders can't access their content (both live and stored). This is how "Trusted Computing" is supposed to work. If somebody in Redmond (or elsewhere) decides that you can't use certain content, nothing that you try to do should allow you access — Owning the content, or obtaining the rights by some other path, is no defense.

5 million people downloaded RC1, and some have access to Vista Final or RC2 (100K copies downloaded). The rest will have to wait until the end of January to access their suddenly banned content."

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