7202772
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The NY Time reports an insurance agent looked at the Facebook page of a woman receiving benefits for depression and determined she was no longer entitled to them based on her Facebook pictures. "She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on Facebook, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday."
5581189
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
ZDNet is reporting that Toshiba has licensed HD DVD to companies in China, and it is outselling Blu-ray 3 to 1. Just when Blu-ray thought it had clear sailing, a tempest has risen in the East: China Blue Hi-definition Disk (CBHD). Toshiba has licensed its HD DVD to them and it will be the unit world leader in HD optical technology in just 12 months. Why? The Times Online reports that the CBHD players are outselling Blu-ray in China by 3-1 and the CBHD disks cost a quarter of Blu-ray. Conceived by Sony at a time when few thought upscaling would succeed, the idea was that HDTVs would require HD content on optical media. Reliving the glory days of DVD adoption they forecast tens of billions in revenue from players and disks, enormous licensing fees and consumer-proof DRM. China has good reasons to support a home-grown HD format. First, the exorbitant Blu-ray royalties hurts Chinese manufacturers ability to compete on price. An equally important, but unspoken, issue is the econoclypse. The Chinese government has made a deal with the Chinese people: leave us in control and we'll deliver rising living standards. The current slow down has hit China hard: millions have been laid off and economic growth is anemic. CBHD is a double win for the Chinese government: billions saved in royalties; and a much cheaper, locally manufactured, luxury item for the restless masses. Blu-ray is simply collateral damage.
5331251
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
John Dvorak suggests Microsoft is not investing enough in its core technologies and lists a number of failed Microsoft projects in his commentary on the MarketWatch site. " Everyone knew the day would come when the fortunes of Microsoft Corp. would reverse. The company might now be in actual decline. If it's true, it brought it on itself by ignoring its core competencies, because it exhibits signs of what can only be described as Corporate Attention Deficit Disorder — CADD. Try to remember all the crazy directions Microsoft has gone in over the past few years. Note the dizzy remarks by Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who recently insisted that online advertising would soon account for the majority of Microsoft's income. This is a software company making these comments." He offers this thought about Ballmer: "Maybe Microsoft cannot come to grips with the reason for its success. After all, Ballmer is not a computer programmer, and has never been too interested in software or computers and seems to want to run a media company." So is it Microsoft CADD, or Ballmer ADD?
5326269
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The NY Times has an article about a conference during which the potential dangers of machine intelligence were discussed. " Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society's workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone. Their concern is that further advances could create profound social disruptions and even have dangerous consequences. " The money quote: "Something new has taken place in the past five to eight years," Dr. Horvitz said. "Technologists are replacing religion, and their ideas are resonating in some ways with the same idea of the Rapture."
5021501
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
Thomas Thwaites is attempting to build a toaster from raw materials, meaning ore. His page describes the materials he will need, attempts to smelt iron ore, and some comments on the significance of the huge industrial complex that gives us things like toasters. It's an ongoing project, so stay tuned! From his page: "After some research I have determined that I will need the following materials to make a toaster. Copper, to make the pins of the electric plug, the cord, and internal wires. Iron to make the steel grilling apparatus, and the spring to pop up the toast. Nickel to make the heating element. Mica (a mineral a bit like slate) around which the heating element is wound, and of course plastic for the plug and cord insulation, and for the all important sleek looking casing. The first four of these materials are dug out of the ground, and plastic is derived from oil, which is generally sucked up through a hole.
Part of the project consists of finding the places where it's possible to dig up these raw materials. Mining no longer happens in the UK, but the country is dotted with abandoned mines, some having been worked since before the 'UK' existed, but all currently uneconomical.
Finding ways to process the raw materials on a domestic scale is also an issue. For example, my first attempt to extract metal involved a chimney pot, some hair-dryers, a leaf blower, and a methodology from the 15th century — this is about the level of technology we can manage when we're acting alone. I failed to get pure enough iron in this way, though if I'd tried a few more times and refined my technique and knowledge of the process I probably would've managed in the end. Instead I found a 2001 patent about industrial smelting of Iron ores using microwave energy. "
4526427
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts directed employees earlier this month not to log onto the Drudge Report website with government-issued computers due to potential viruses on the site. In an e-mail message sent May 4, Paul Harvey, an information-technology official for the Boston office, wrote that security specialists with the U.S. Attorney's Office at the Department of Justice asked them "to reformat/reimage two computers because the user visited the drudgereport.com site." "Please avoid the Drudgereport website from the [United States Attorney's Office] computers," Harvey wrote. Harvey said that if employees had a "work-related reason to visit the site," access could be provided off the government network.
4039125
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
On occasion I will write an email to my state senator about a policy issue. It might go something like this: "Honorable Senator Blutarsky, I know you are much in favor of making the blancmange the official state desert, and have sponsored legislation to do so. It is my opinion that the blancmange is a very bad choice. The shortcake would be a much better official state desert for the following reasons..." I will eventually get a response similar to: "Thank you so much for voicing your opinion regarding this important topic. As you know, the state desert is important to all of the residents of our fine state and to the nation as a whole. That's why I co-sponsored S.1234, which you will be happy to know supports the choice of the blancmange as our official state desert." Does anyone know what sort of technology is scanning and summarizing the emails constituents send to their elected representatives? My experience indicates that if certain keywords are present, the elected official will send a response that contains the same keywords, but has almost nothing to do with the intent of a constituent message. Why else would I get canned response that clearly indicates my letter was "read", but not comprehended, as the response does not demonstrate any relation to the original email, besides the presence of common keywords. This makes me wonder if elected officials are being deceived by the technology used to facilitate communication with their constituents.
1193107
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The LA Times and others are reporting the music industry is working with SanDisk to try unrestricted music files on SD memory cards to improve sales of physical media: "In addition to music, the slotMusic cards will come pre-loaded with other things, such as liner notes, album-cover artwork and sometimes video." The important part: "The music on slotMusic comes without copyright protection, so it can be used on almost all computers, mobile phones and music players — but it won't play on an iPod, which doesn't have a micro-SD memory slot. It has one gigabyte of memory, and the music tracks are played back at high quality." Could it be the labels have finally recognized that providing features and convenience to customers is preferable to suing them?
1154321
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The Wall Street Journal and the Telegraph are reporting that the US Department of Justice has hired a top litigator in anticipation of an antitrust suit against Google The US Justice Department has hired one of America's best-known litigators, former Walt Disney vice chairman Sanford Litvack, for a possible antitrust challenge to Google's growing power in advertising. His hiring is the strongest signal yet that the US is preparing to take court action against Google and its search-advertising deal with Yahoo, the WSJ claims. US lawyers have been deposing witnesses and issuing subpoenas for documents to support a challenge to the deal for week, the WSJ reported, quoting lawyers close to the review. However, it adds that such efforts don't always mean a case will be brought. The lawyers close to the review are reported to have said that Mr Litvack, who was the Justice Department antitrust chief under President Jimmy Carter, has been asked to examine the evidence gathered so far and to build a case if the decision is made to proceed.
788167
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg have teamed to put $375 million into anti-smoking programs.: "Microsoft founder Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are pooling their piles of money to pour $375 million into a global effort to cut smoking.
The billionaire philanthropists, who have a combined worth of more than $70 billion, said Wednesday that the money will help efforts in developing countries where tobacco use is highest. There are more than 1 billion smokers worldwide." Buy Vista, trade a smoking human for a smoking SSD!
718921
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The Yahoo / Microsoft deal will not happen, TheStreet.com reports today:
Shares of Yahoo! slumped following reports that talks with Microsoft concluded with no agreement, and Yahoo! will instead announce a search partnership with Google.
Yahoo! later confirmed the breakdown with Microsoft, saying that the software giant was "unequivocally" not interested in pursuing an acquisition of all of Yahoo!, "even at the price range [$33 a share] it had previously suggested."
Yahoo! also said it had turned down a proposal by Microsoft to buy Yahoo!'s search business alone.
680748
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
Greenpeace warns console gamers: "If you regularly play the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, you'd better not hope to have sex anytime soon, or at least not at "normal" levels, says Greenpeace. And guys should be especially wary. The environmental group today released a statement about the consoles' chemical composition, saying that certain chemicals used when manufacturing the PS3 and Xbox 360 can "interfere" with proper sexual development in mammals, especially human males." What is the normal level of sex for a Slashdotter?
646060
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
I just posted a story about Network Neighborhood Watch. Turns out it is not what it seems. DHS has nothing to do with it.
646048
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
The DHS has an interesting new initiative: The "Home Network Awareness Program" — Identifying terrorists is no easy task since they become a part of the community and rely on its resources, especially for communication. Cities, towns, and suburbs all across our nation often have computer networks. These networks are located within places of business, commerce, as well as our homes. With the widespread adoption and usage of wireless networks, it has created a climate that is ripe for exploitation by terrorists. Since these networks often times are unsecured or offered as a free service to the public it allows any individual to use them, including terrorists. Even the networks that reside in our homes can be used by terrorists who maybe our own neighbors or fellow building residents. Therefore it is imperative that these networks do not go unmonitored. That is why the Neighborhood Network Watch was established and why now the Home Network Awareness Program has been created to allows individuals like yourself to make sure that terrorists may not be using your own home network to plan the next attack on our nation or your very own community. If you are interested in participating in the Home Network Awareness Program please download the in depth step by step guide to collecting network data with TCPDUMP, "How To Sniff Network Traffic." Also, watch the following public service announcements: "Introduction to the Home Network Awareness Program", "How to Watch Terrorist Activity on My Home Network, as well as My Neighbors"
To contribute data you have collected, please visit the Home Network Awareness Program Wiki. Sign up for an account on the wiki and upload your data using the "upload file" link on the left hand side.
639224
submission
Strudelkugel writes:
Rufus Terrill, a 57-year-old ex-Marine bar owner and engineer in Atlanta, says that vagrants are destroying his neighborhood. Terrill says he's tried many ways to keep such bad guys off the streets. First he patrolled the area on foot with an assault rifle in hand — that didn't fly with police. Next he started shooing people away with a spotlight, but some rascally locals flashed their own guns in response. Then Terrill's wife suggested a novel idea: Why not build a robot to fight loiterers? After all, robots now defuse bombs, clean carpets, and take care of senior citizens. Surely a bot could help keep drug-users away. Enter the Bum Bot. That's what Terrill calls the vagrant-fighting robot he built last fall — a man-high structure of steel and plywood covered in black rubber gym mats, the thing looks like a special effect-shop reject, but it's also scary as all get out. However, homeless advocates are up-in-arms, justifiably; neither Terrill nor his vigilante bot have any legal jurisdiction over his streets, and surely we don't want to live in a world in which engineers are free to build their own bot-weapons to unleash upon the citizenry.
