Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
XBox (Games)

Modded Xbox Bans Prompt EFF Warning About Terms of Service 254

Last month we discussed news that Microsoft had banned hundreds of thousands of Xbox users for using modified consoles. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has now pointed to this round of bans as a prime example of the power given to providers of online services through 'Terms of Service' and other usage agreements. "No matter how much we rely on them to get on with our everyday lives, access to online services — like email, social networking sites, and (wait for it) online gaming — can never be guaranteed. ... he who writes the TOS makes the rules, and when it comes to enforcing them, the service provider often behaves as though it is also the judge, jury and executioner. ... While the mass ban provides a useful illustration of their danger, these terms can be found in nearly all TOS agreements for all kinds of services. There have been virtually no legal challenges to these kinds of arbitrary termination clauses, but we imagine this will be a growth area for lawyers."
Image

Garlic Farmer Wards Off High-Speed Internet 475

DocVM writes "A Nova Scotia farmer is opposing the construction of a microwave tower for fear it will eventually mutate his organic garlic crop. Lenny Levine, who has been planting and harvesting garlic by hand on his Annapolis Valley land since the 1970s, is afraid his organic crop could be irradiated if EastLink builds a microwave tower for wireless high-speed internet access a few hundred meters from his farm."
Classic Games (Games)

New 2D, HD Sonic Game Coming In 2010 123

Anonymouse writes "Sonic the Hedgehog is going back to his roots, but with a fresh coat of HD paint. 'An all-new 2D side-scrolling High Definition Sonic game is coming with a 2010 release date, according to a new teaser trailer from Sega.' Sega's Ken Ballough had this to say: 'Old-school Sonic fans have long asked to see Sonic return to a more 2D style of gameplay. Many liked the daytime stages in Unleashed but wanted to see a game that plays purely similar to the early games of the Genesis. Project Needlemouse is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots.'"

Comment Re:Why won't this story die? (Score 3, Insightful) 599

The 'child' is a primordial dwarf. Her symptoms fit to the last detail.

This story has done time on Digg and Fark already, probably several other sites as well, and it seems everywhere large numbers of non-doctors can use Google to compare her symptoms to a RARE but known medical condition. The poor kid's doctors either don't know how to research or are otherwise incompetent.

Or maybe, just a wild thought here, maybe they have a slightly better insight into her symptoms, having actually examined her and seen her test results, and they have already ruled that out for reasons which your cursory diagnosis, based on reading an ABCnews article and several minutes of medical training, missed.

Comment Re:I disagree in principle. (Score 2, Interesting) 484

The things we argue about tend to be very very simple. It is the application to the real world that gets very very complex.

Take abortion for example. The real question is "When do we get a soul?"

We get souls? I missed the part where that was proven. Actually first you have to define what a soul is before you try arguing if and when we get issued one. And how does the moment of soul gifting alone define the issue? I think what you mean is if you want to oversimplify to make your own argument you can. Which means you don't disagree with TFA at all.

Comment Re:Google != Turnitin (Score 1) 315

There is a significant difference in what Google was doing with books, where its stated purpose was to provide excerpts...

In the final confrontation with the alleged plagiarist the teacher would probably have to have the original work in hand.

So... Google provides only an excerpt but Turnitin gives the whole work? That would be a significant difference. How else does the teacher get their hands on the evidence? The real important difference is Google is doing this with books whose rights are controlled by major publishers and their lawyers, not students.

Comment Re:There are some things we shouldn't see (Score 1) 330

You cannot have two people responsible for the actions of one. Either the "inciter" is responsible, or we assume the "do-er" to be grown up enough to know what he is doing, and as such responsible. I can understand why one would feel that it is immoral to incite someone to commit a crime (esp. if it is murder), but still, it seems illogical to me that two people should be responsible for one crime (if they were not both performing it).*

So if I offer to pay you $5000 to kill my wife and you do... am I responsible or are you? There could be money in it if you get the answer right.

Comment Re:The Labels Should Be Grateful (Score 1) 86

That's odd, because to me the modern music doesn't sound that different from what was playing in the late 90's, which is why I tend to think of it as crap. If it sounds like things I've already listened to it's not liable to make an impression on me. I'm kind of disappointed that there isn't something which has 'evolved' enough to make me want to shake my fist and tell those damn kids to turn their so-called music down.

Slashdot Top Deals

The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh

Working...