Comment Re:Can you actually do anything useful? (Score 1) 146
New meme?
In DRM Apple, the iPhone unlocks you!
Not sure it has the same ring to it...
Submission + - Bill to give Obama emergency Control of Internet 5
neonprimetime writes: Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.
Submission + - Google to Launch OS (wsj.com)
olyar writes: "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google has announced their intent to launch their own operating system.
Initially they'll target low end netbooks."
Initially they'll target low end netbooks."
Comment Re:Unexplained Achievement "The Maker"? (Score 1) 1582
I'm your counter counter example
Submission + - How do I put unused servers to work? 1
olyar writes: "I worked for an internet start-up last year and during the "we have plenty of money" phase, a lot of server hardware was purchased. Eight months later, there is very little money, but we're still plugging along — using only a fraction of the hardware. We just cleared out a co-lo and I now have a stack of 17, 1U servers in my garage. Each of those has 2 servers, each of which is a 2-processor, dual-core box with 8 GB of RAM. Add that up and I have 136 processors and 272 GB of RAM with nothing to do.
The IT guy in me thinks that's a waste of FLOPS. The wanna-be businessman in me thinks its probably a waste of money as well.
So I've been brainstorming ways to put all of that power to good use. Any ideas?"
The IT guy in me thinks that's a waste of FLOPS. The wanna-be businessman in me thinks its probably a waste of money as well.
So I've been brainstorming ways to put all of that power to good use. Any ideas?"
Anyone Besides Zune Owners With New Year's Crashes? 480
aputerguy writes "My Fedora 8 Linux server crashed sometime between 18:59:40 EST (GMT -5:00) and 19:00:00 EST (GMT -5:00) on Dec 31, 2008 which remarkably corresponds to within at most 20 seconds of the New Year in GMT. I have been running this same hardware non-stop for more than six years and other than the occasional reboot for kernel (or distro) upgrades, it has not crashed more than 1 or 2 times in 2237 days of cumulative uptime. Nothing other than background processes were running at the time of the crash. Could this be a coincidence or was there some 2008/2009 rollover issue going on here? Has anyone (other than Zune 30GB owners) noticed similar year-end issues with their computers or electronic devices?"
Google Releases Web Security Book 49
northern squirrel writes "As reported by Security Focus, Google had publicly released their 50-page Browser Security Handbook (under a CC BY license, too). To quote, the document is 'meant to provide developers, browser engineers, and information security researchers with a one-stop reference to key security properties of contemporary web browsers,' and features a comparison of security features in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and — you guessed it — Chrome. Is it a belated Christmas gift to web developers, or just a reaction to recent bad publicity?"
Comment Hardware doesn't just configure itself (Score 2, Insightful) 465
One thing not in the equation here: Hardware is cheap, but having that hardware managed isn't so cheap. When you scale from a couple of servers to a big bank of server, you have to pick up system admins to manage all of those boxen.
Less expensive than a programmer (some times) but certainly not free.
Comment Re:Filter Lines (Score 1) 702
I do the same with
(as in no autoindent)
Used to drive me nuts before I learned that one.
Submission + - Google Search Tricks and Tips (blogspot.com)
PCWizKid's Tech Talk writes: "Did you know Google Search can be used as a Calculator, World time, Flight Status checker or a Dictionary? These are some of the many things that you can do with a specific type of search in Google. PCWizKid has put together a video with various quick tips and tricks on how to utilize Google to the fullest."
Submission + - OPEC president blames ethanol for crude-price rise (marketwatch.com) 1
An anonymous reader writes: While we (USA) think that ethanol is a smoke screen, this OPEC guy http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/opec-president-blames-oil-prices/story.aspx?guid=%7BE003D4C9-0739-4868-8F69-D9C51BB53CB5%7D&dist=msr_1 is worried that we might actually be able to cut our petroleum habit. TFA is short and the comments are good.
Submission + - Jobs Calls for DRM-Free Music Downloads
srussia writes: Steve Jobs, in an opinion piece entitled "Thoughts on Music" http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/ calls for an end to DRM encumbrances currently demanded by the "Big Four" in return for letting iTunes distribute their music.
Excerpt: "Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven't worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That's right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player."
Excerpt: "Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven't worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That's right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player."
Submission + - Robotech is back after 20 years
An anonymous reader writes: For 20 some years, some of us have been wondering what happened to Admiral Hunter at the end of the
Robotech. Our answer may be out today, as
Harmony Gold USA has released a DVD that picks up where the story left off. It may be the pilot for a follow up series. I haven't got mine yet, but you get it at all the usual places.
Submission + - Steve Jobs speaks out against DRM on music
ruiner13 writes: "CNN/Money is running an article which quotes Steve Jobs as believing, as many Slashdot users do, that DRM is bad for their business.
The full text of Jobs' thoughts on the matter are posted on Apple's website."
Jobs said there appeared to be no benefit to the record companies to continue to sell more than 90 percent of their music without DRM on compact discs while selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system. "If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies."
The article also goes on to mention that Apple will be renegotiating the contracts with the major labels next month. Especially considering the legal action Apple is facing in Europe to make the iTunes music inter operable with other players, does this signal the end of FairPlay and the RIAA forcing DRM down people's throats?The full text of Jobs' thoughts on the matter are posted on Apple's website."
Gates Says Microsoft Will Support OpenID 73
An anonymous reader writes "In his RSA conference keynote today, Bill Gates announced that Microsoft will support the decentralized OpenID digital identity protocol, in addition to WS-* and CardSpace (transcribed notes, video). From its roots in LID, i-names, and Sxip, the first major deployment in LiveJournal, and now with support from Techorati, Magnolia, Symantec, a suspected mass-deployment by AOL, and a number of startups — using URLs as digital identities has caught hold."
