Comment Re:Why? Lightweight? (Score 2) 238
To have the .NET framework backwards compatible (like Java) you'll need to have all .NET frameworks installed which requires 4 GB. In what universe is that lightweight?
Mystery of the 'Chupacabra' May Be Solved 94
rhettb writes "The mystery of the legendary chupacabra, a beast said to drain the blood of domestic animals at night, has been solved, according to a University of Michigan scientist. Biologist Barry O'Connor says that most chupacabra sightings are probably linked to coyotes with mange, a disease caused by the same species of mite that triggers scabies in humans. Severe cases of mange cause hair loss and thickening of skin in wild dogs and can lead to bacterial skin infections that produce a foul odor characteristic of the 'chupacabra.' Wombats and squirrels are also susceptible to mange, suggesting that chupacabra are found in trees and Down Under."
Hard-to-Read Fonts Improve Learning 175
arkenian writes "Difficult-to-read fonts make for better learning, according to scientists. The finding is about to be published in the international journal Cognition. Researchers at Princeton University employed volunteers to learn made-up information about different types of aliens — and found that those reading harder fonts recalled more when tested 15 minutes later. The article goes on to note a second test in a real school environment: 'Keen to see if their findings actually worked in practice, the Princeton University team then tested their results on 222 students aged between 15 and 18 at a secondary school in Chesterfield, Ohio.'... 'Students given the harder-to-read materials scored higher in their classroom assessments than those in the control group. This was the case across a range of subjects — from English, to Physics to History.'"
Submission + - Ruby 'compiler' in Common Lisp (imagine27.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The implementers of existing Ruby VMs have gone the way of C, C++ and Java.
There is another possibility. Why not implement Ruby in Common Lisp ?
There is another possibility. Why not implement Ruby in Common Lisp ?
How Chat and Youth Are Killing the Meeting 205
dominique_cimafranca writes "Forbes columnist Dan Woods describes a change in the way some companies handle meetings. Owing to instant messaging and younger tech-savvy CEOs, meeting time has gone down from as much as 30 hours per week to as little as 2 hours per week. Woods proposes ways to make this 'meetingless' management effective."
Intel and Nokia Provide First MeeGo Release 115
wehe writes "The first fruit of the cooperation between Intel and Nokia is available: the first release of MeeGo. MeeGo is a merge of the former Maemo and Moblin Linux distros. What is available now is 'The MeeGo distribution infrastructure and the operating system base from the Linux kernel to the OS infrastructure up to the middleware layer. The MeeGo architecture is based on a common core across the different usage models, such as netbooks, handheld, in-vehicle, and connected TV.' The images available now for download are suitable for Intel Atom-based netbooks, ARM-based Nokia N900, and Intel Atom-based handset (Moorestown). RPM repositories as well as git source repositories are there for download, too."
Submission + - Day 1 is here - opening up the MeeGo development (meego.com)
Meeuw writes: Today is the culmination of a huge effort by the worldwide Nokia and Intel teams to share the MeeGo operating system code with the open source community. This is the latest step in the full merger of Maemo and Moblin, and we are happy to open the repositories and move the ongoing development work into the open — as we set out to do from the beginning.
Hacker Will Try To Restore Linux Support On PS3 468
Many readers have been sending in news of the impending PS3 firmware update that will remove the ability to install other operating systems on the console. (We discussed it here on Sunday.) Over the past few days, legions of PS3 owners have been voicing their anger at Sony's decision, upset that they'll be forced to either lose their custom install or forgo use of the PlayStation Network and be unable to play certain games and movies. Now, hacker George Hotz, known for his iPhone jailbreaks and his PS3 hack earlier this year, has vowed to fight back and restore Linux support on the PS3. He said, "The PlayStation 3 is the only product I know that loses features throughout its lifecycle. Software PS2 emulation, SACD playback, and OtherOS support are all just software switches you can flip. It's unbelievable you would go and flip one, not just on new boxes you are shipping, but on tens of millions already in the field."
Comment Re:Content filtering :0 (Score 1) 252
>if an employee or student can get their work done while using Facebook, Myspace, etc. more power to them
Sorry but you were hired to do work for a company and for socializing. Wanna socialize do it on your brakes or your own non paid time. If you can't put away your personal things for the time you are being paid at work then you need better discipline/work ethic or be more creative with your work time.
5 Reasons Tablets Suck, and You Won't Buy One 553
Crazzaper writes "When the iPad was announced, a lot of people who didn't care about tablets came out to bash Apple's new device. These same people said 'I would have bought it if it had a full OS,' but in reality full OS tablets existed before the iPad rumors even started. This article gives an interesting perspective on why this happened, and argues that there's five big reasons why more powerful tablets exists but no one cares."
Comment Re:Solution for CP lovers (Score 1) 363
You made a good point.
I’ve though about this quite some time. And the core problem of all of this, is the intent.
Or rather that we can’t find out your intent.
If we knew the intent, we could put someone who is trying your scheme, into jail. But not someone who really accidentally landed on such a site. (E.g. a Goatse-like CP link going trough a URL shortener.)
This is a giant problem. Which results in the self-contradiction of:
1. Innocent until proven guilty. (= In case of unknown intention, you are not guilty.)
2. Ignorance is no protection against punishment. (= In case of unknown intention, you are guilty.)
I think (2) is morally wrong, because in the cane that the intention really is not known, one should never assume evil intentions. Ever.
That’s what proof is for! Proof of intention.
For example:
A) Someone downloads CP. He jacks off to it, and gets caught in mid-action. -> Guilty!
B) Someone downloads CP. He tries to analyze the images to see if he can find clues on how to catch the guy. Later, someone finds the images on his computer. -> NOT guilty! Even if the intention was not known. Even if his intention was bad, but not known.
A fair society demands the rules to be like this. Or else everybody can just shove CP on your computer when you don’t look, and then throw you in jail for it.
Bookmark Work At Home Businesses (wendylynch.net)
Submission + - Choice of language in software evolution
An anonymous reader writes: Apple has done a much better job at evolving OS X over a period of 20 years (from the NeXT days), and branching variants for the iPhone than Microsoft has managed to do with the various incarnations of Windows. I wonder if Apple's choice of Objective C, which is a dynamic language based on Smalltalk, has given them an advantage over Microsoft's C++, which is more static in nature.
Submission + - Microsoft, employees embarassed about iPhone use (wsj.com) 2
portscan writes: There is an entertaining and telling article in the Wall Street Journal about iPhone use by Microsoft employees. Apparently, despite it being frowned upon by senior management, iPhone use is rampant among the Redmond rank an file. The head of Microsoft's mobile division tried to explain it away as employees wanting "to better understand the competition," although few believe this. Nowhere does the article mention attempts by the company to understand why the iPhone is more attractive to much of Microsoft's tech-savvy workforce than the company's own products.
Submission + - A Dream for Music, but Labels’ Nightmare (nytimes.com)
langelgjm writes: Michael Robertson, a "serial entrepreneur" of MP3.com fame, has made Slashdot news several times before. A recent article in the New York Times (registration may be required) discusses MP3tunes, the successor to MP3.com. MP3tunes allows you to rip your entire CD collection and store it online, whence it can be streamed to computers and various internet-equipped devices, including the iPhone and Android, and even the Playstation and Wii. However, the record industry is in the midst of a lawsuit against Robertson and his service, claiming that he should be paying licensing fees. The industry points to its blessed competitor, Catch Media, as the proper alternative: "Mark Segall, its business development adviser, says the company will soon announce which music companies will use the technology but suggests that consumers will have to pay a "convenience fee" for streaming their music from the Web, comparable to charges at an A.T.M. Won't people balk at paying again to listen to R.E.M. songs they have owned since the 1980s? Catch Media hopes not."
