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Comment Re:That can be sued for in civil court (Score 2) 234

by leomekenkamp (#35541118) Attached to: Dutch Court Rules WiFi Hacking Not a Criminal Offense

But also keep in mind that the dutch legal system is extremely wonky, ruled by judges who are completely out of touch with reality.

[citations needed]

Because right now, this judge has declared that taking fuel from his car is not theft.

No, the judge has said no such thing. In fact, I wholeheartedly believe this same judge would declare the unauthorized taking of fuel from a car a criminal offense. The judge said that there is no criminal law against simply using someone else's network. And he is right: there is no such law.

Submission + - How to explain relativity in few words?

Submitted by dvdme
dvdme writes: Recently I was asked to explain what was Einstein's theory of relativity in few and simply words to someone who doesn't knowledge in physics.
I'm not an expert myselft but I thought a little but about it and said that relativity explains how everything moves, in few words, the mechanics of the universe. Furthermore I also explain why it's called "theory of relativity", because it states the every movement is relative to the observer. I used the example of an observer inside a car vs. an observer outside a car.
I also explained how relativity describes gravity as a space-time bend by mass with the classical exemple of a heavy ball bending an elastic sheet, thus, "attracting" smaller balls.
I gave some examples of the consequences such as time dilation but in the end I got the impression that I didn't was very clear.
So, the question stood in my head, how to you explain what is the theory of relativity to someone without any physics background?

Comment Re:10,000 users a day... (Score 3, Informative) 302

by leomekenkamp (#33833896) Attached to: French ISP Refuses To Send Out Infringement Notices

That basically means the only viable solution left is no more digital music - live performances only.

Nonsense. Quote from

Similar to the announcement that ultimately led to the release of Ghosts I-IV, a post on the band's website in April 2008 read "2 weeks!"[73] On May 5, Nine Inch Nails released The Slip via their website without any advertisement or promotion.[74] The album was made available for download free of charge, protected under the same Creative Commons licence as Ghosts, and has seen individual downloads surpassing 1.4 million.[75] The Slip has since been released on CD as a limited edition set of 250,000.

And you know what? NIN made a profit. Period. Trent Reznor puts almost all his stuff up for download (gratis and with remix license) and you can buy collectors items. He makes a lot of money on the collectors items.

Your argument is wrong, plain and simply wrong.
The Courts

Submission + - BP buying up Gulf scientists for legal defense (al.com)

Submitted by krou
krou writes: The Press Register has revealed that BP are attempting to buy up scientists from public universities around the Gulf Cost to aid its defence against the Natural Resources Damage Assessment lawsuit that the federal government will bring against the company as a result of the spill. 'BP PLC attempted to hire the entire marine sciences department at one Alabama university ... The university declined because of confidentiality restrictions that the company sought on any research. The Press-Register obtained a copy of a contract offered to scientists by BP. It prohibits the scientists from publishing their research, sharing it with other scientists or speaking about the data that they collect for at least the next three years. ... More than one scientist interviewed by the Press-Register described being offered $250 an hour through BP lawyers. At eight hours a week, that amounts to $104,000 a year. Scientists from Louisiana State University, University of Southern Mississippi and Texas A&M have reportedly accepted, according to academic officials. Scientists who study marine invertebrates, plankton, marsh environments, oceanography, sharks and other topics have been solicited.'
Science

Submission + - Genetically Engineered Immune Cells Kill Cancer (gizmag.com)

Submitted by ElectricSteve
ElectricSteve writes: One of the main problems with cancer cells is that the body's immune system generally doesn’t recognize them as enemies. By using a crippled HIV-like virus as a vehicle to arm lymphocytes with T-cell receptors, researchers have been able to genetically engineer a well-armed battalion of tumor-seeking immune system cells. By also inserting a reporter gene, which glows “hot” during positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, the researchers were able to watch in real time as these "special forces" traveled throughout the body to locate and attack dangerous melanomas.
Music

Submission + - Men At Work ordered to pay song royalties (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by chichilalescu
chichilalescu writes: Common sense comatose.
Excerpts from the BBC article:
"A judge has ordered Men At Work to hand over royalties from the 1983 hit single Down Under after earlier ruling they had plagiarized a children's song.
Sinclair, an Australian teacher, wrote Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree more than 70 years ago. It has since been sung by generations of Australian school children.
Larrikin Music, which is owned by London's Music Sales Group, bought the rights to the classic folk song in 1990, following Sinclair's death in 1988."

I can hardly wait for the wonders that software patents have in store for us.

Submission + - Back to the Future! 3

Submitted by wisdom_brewing
wisdom_brewing writes: Notable mention for the day: Today is the day that Marty McFly arrived in the future after hitting 88mph in the Delorean back in 1985.
Censorship

Submission + - Copyright as Censorship in U.S. Senate Campaign (talkingpointsmemo.com) 1

Submitted by kfogel
kfogel writes: Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona, is using a copyright "cease-and-desist" letter to stop her opponent, incumbent Harry Reid (currently majority leader in the U.S. Senate), from reposting old versions of her campaign website. The old pages are politically sensitive because Angle campaigned from the far right in the primary, but is now toning that down for the general election. One can understand why a politician might want to de-emphasize certain positions after the primary, but using copyright law to censor your opponent from displaying your past positions? Mmmmmm. Shutting down the wayback machine... not gonna work.

The C&D letter is here. (It also accuses the Reid campaign of intending to impersonate Angle's campaign, which seems doubtful, but who knows?)
Portables

DIY Pixel Qi Screens Available 60

Posted by CmdrTaco from the and-it-fits-in-the-something-something dept.
16384 was one of a surprising number of DIY types to note that the Pixel Qi screen is out. It can be installed in many netbooks. Can't wait to see what people build with them. An excerpt from the press release says "MAKE and Pixel Qi announced today the availability of a revolutionary LCD display technology from Pixel Qi — the 3Qi display. This one-of-a-kind, plug-and-play 10.1-inch display offers two modes: an easy-to-read, real color, multi-media mode or a crisp, low-power e-reader mode. Indeed, the sunlight-ready e-reader mode makes it easy to use outdoors. The 3Qi display is on sale now at makershed.com."

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