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Cellphones

What Carriers Don't Want You To Know About Texting 570

Posted by timothy from the what-the-market-will-bear dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Randall Stross has just published a sobering article in The New York Times about how the four major US wireless carriers don't want anyone to know the actual cost structure of text message services to avoid public outrage over the doubling of a-la-carte per-message fees over the last three years. The truth is that text messages are 'stowaways' inside the control channel — bandwidth that is there whether it is used for texting or not — and 160 bytes per message is a tiny amount of data to store-and-forward over tower-to-tower landlines. In essence it costs carriers practically nothing to transmit even trillions of text messages. When text usage goes up, the carriers don't even have to install new infrastructure as long as it is proportional to voice usage. This makes me dream of the day when there is real competition in the wireless industry, not this gang-of-four oligopoly."
Software

Michael Meeks Says OO.o Project is "Profoundly Sick" 676

Posted by timothy from the important-alternative dept.
unassimilatible writes "Michael Meeks, who works full time developing OpenOffice, writes in his blog that the project is 'profoundly sick.' 'In a healthy project we would expect to see a large number of volunteer developers involved, in addition — we would expect to see a large number of peer companies contributing to the common code pool; we do not see this in OpenOffice.org. Indeed, quite the opposite we appear to have the lowest number of active developers on OO.o since records began: 24, this contrasts negatively with Linux's recent low of 160+. Even spun in the most positive way, OO.o is at best stagnating from a development perspective.'"
Windows

Submission + - Microsoft buys the Swedish vote on OOXML (os2world.com)

Submitted by CoolCat
CoolCat writes: From the site: "As bad as it sound it currently looks like that the vote that took place at the SIS, Swedish Standards Institute, was a total joke due to the facts that 23 new companies applied to take part of today's voting and most of them in favour of Microsoft agenda. One would think that SIS would not accept new companies to participate in the vote since they haven't been part of the earlier discussions and meetings. But according to SIS they didn't see any problem that new companies wanted to take part in this vote without prior notice. So what happened here is that Microsoft gather together a bunch of loyal partners that would vote yes to their standard without any questions."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Dell thinks Ubuntu makes computers more fragile? (dellideastorm.com)

Submitted by
WolfWings
WolfWings writes: "Apparently Dell has decided that Ubuntu-based computers are ineligible for their famed CompleteCare service, or any form of hardware warranty what-so-ever. The news has only recently hit Dell's own IdeaStorm website, but after so recently decided to support Linux on their machines, including limited technical support, Dell seems to be squandering any possible good-will with this decision to leave purchasers of these machines high and dry for hardware warranty coverage."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Say Anything About Anyone (dbuz.com)

Submitted by
kellyhazel
kellyhazel writes: "Shit talking or reality check

Ever wonder what people around you think of you? Do you have something to say to someone but you are afraid he/she might take it personally?

Dbuz.com is a site where members can read or write positive and negative comments that are posted anonymously.

Whether it's for HR, love, gossip or business, Dbuz is useful tool to find or provide the inside scope on the people you are most interested in. Come to www.dbuz.com right now and see if people are already talking about you.

Just enter an email address of anybody you know and immediately find out if that person has already been uploaded to dbuz.com

Chances are people are already writing about you in dbuz. If you can't handle the truth, no worries

Say Anything About Me i dont mind at All ;)"
Power

Submission + - Saltwater as an Energy Source (youtube.com)

Submitted by Everette Scott
Everette Scott writes: John Kanzius, an inventor from Erie, PA, has discovered a method for turning ordinary saltwater into usable energy. Kanzius uses a machine he invented to create radio waves to actually ignite ordinary saltwater. The energy created is in the form of a flame that won't even burn a paper towel. The flame burns at approximately 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. The energy created has been used to power a specially designed engine for up to 2 minutes. He also believes that the machine could be used to fight cancer.
For more information watch these videos.
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Saltwater as an energy source? Go figure...
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Bioshock Preview With Ken Levine (gamerswithjobs.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: There is a hands-on preview of Bioshock on Gamers With Jobs based on a visit Julian Murdoch paid to Irrational Games. He spent hours with the game and Ken Levine, coming out with some insights into more than just the usual preview stuff.

The point of BioShock, the raison d'etre, is really the story, and the messages and intellectual content that Levine tries to deliver as a payload. "Look at Lord of the Rings," he challenges. "Why is Lord of the Rings more interesting than random RPG story number 507? They're exactly the same thing. They have orcs and goblins and demons and trolls. But Lord of the Rings is a meditation on power. And it's really interesting because of that. It's what gives it it's heart." And with undenied hubris, Levine's trying to do the same thing with BioShock, while still delivering a game 16-year-old cheese eating high school students will want to play. "We have these philosophical notions, but you've got to deliver. You gotta bring home the monsters. You gotta bring home the superpowers." In short, he's become a commercial realist.
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA Drops Tanya Andersen Case

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "After 2 years, the RIAA has finally dropped its longstanding case against disabled single mother Tanya Andersen in Oregon, Atlantic v. Andersen. The dismissal (pdf) relates merely to the RIAA's claims against Ms. Andersen, and does not relate to her (a) claim for attorneys fees or (b) counterclaims against the RIAA, which are presently before the Court on a motion to dismiss. The counterclaims were first interposed in December 2005. This is the same case in which the RIAA insisted on taking a face to face deposition of a 10 year old girl. By the way, neither the mother nor the child had ever even heard of file sharing."
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA Accused of Extortion & Conspiracy

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The defendant in a Tampa, Florida, case, UMG v. Del Cid, has filed counterclaims accusing the RIAA record labels of conspiracy and extortion. The counterclaims (pdf) are for Trespass, Computer Fraud and Abuse (18 USC 1030), Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices (Fla. Stat. 501.201), Civil Extortion (CA Penal Code 519 & 523), and Civil Conspiracy involving (a) use of private investigators without license in violation of Fla. Stat. Chapter 493; (b) unauthorized access to a protected computer system, in interstate commerce, for the purpose of obtaining information in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1030 (a)(2)(C); (c) extortion in violation of Ca. Penal Code 519 and 523; and (d) knowingly collecting an unlawful consumer debt, and using abus[ive] means to do so, in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692a et seq. and Fla. Stat. 559.72 et seq."
AMD

Submission + - AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 45W CPU Reviewed @ Viper Lai (viperlair.com)

Submitted by
VL
VL writes: "AMD's latest sports a new name and a much lower voltage. We test the BE-2350 with a combination of real-world and synthetic tests. "It's important to put into perspective what we're looking at today. If you're looking to build a high-end gaming PC or some sort of high-level video editing workstation, this processor isn't going to be for you. The intended market will be corporate workstations and the silent PC or HTPC market. We have a forum thread going on debating the benefits of energy efficient processors and energy bills. Unless you're a home user who leaves their PC on 24/7, you probably won't see much in the way of savings, but this won't be the case for cubicle farms." http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/cpu_mobo/amd/be23 50/"
Media

Submission + - Vulgar language, if Pres. can do it so can you

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a fascinating decision today in a case pitting the television networks against the government over indecency rules involving expletives. Our colleague Stephen Labaton captures it this way in his lead paragraphs: If President Bush and Vice President Cheney can use vulgar language, then the government cannot punish others for doing the same thing on television. That, in essence, was the decision on Monday, when a federal appeals court struck down the government policy of fining stations and networks that broadcast shows containing profanities. Both network executives and top officials at the commission said that if the opinion is not reversed on appeal, it would gut the commission's ability to regulate any speech on television or radio. Kevin J. Martin, the chairman of the commission, said the agency was now considering whether to seek an appeal before all the members of the appeals court or to take the matter directly to the Supreme Court. The decision, by a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, was a sharp rebuke for the Federal Communications Commission and for the Bush administration. For the four television networks that filed the lawsuit, Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC, it was a major victory in a legal and cultural battle being waged between them and the commission and its supporters.

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And it should be the law: If you use the word `paradigm' without knowing what the dictionary says it means, you go to jail. No exceptions. -- David Jones

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