Comment Re:URL Bar (Score 1) 385
Another here who loves the AwesomeBar!
I don't have mod-points, so I'll just follow the trend and make this thread an ad-hoc poll.
Comment Re:wtf? (Score 1) 168
... Besides MPEG4 will soon be public domain anyway (2015 if I recall correctly) which is just as good as open source.
According to this page, the last patents for h264 may not expire until 2028:
http://lists.whatwg.org/htdig.cgi/whatwg-whatwg.org/2009-July/020737.html
Comment Re:100MB? (Score 1) 247
While 100Mb/s may be excessive give usage patterns based on slower network speeds, the vastly higher speed opens up completely new usage paradigms. For example, I currently keep my all of my photos and and many videos on my laptop's hard drive so that I can use them at home, a friend's house, or elsewhere. Were 100Mb/s to be the norm, I'd just keep everything on a massive home NAS and just stream it as needed to my laptop or other computing device.
Given a fast enough connection, one wouldn't even have to bother with making a local copy of a high-def video owned by a friend, just stream it as you watch it.
Comment Re:Monorail! Monorail! Monrail! (Score 1) 1385
Amen. Living in Vermont I often take the "Montrealer" down the NY side of Lake Champlain to NYC. The freight-track is slow, bumpy, and generally in terrible condition. One trip a few years ago took 12 hours to get from Port Henry NY to NYC (about a 5-hour drive).
Comment Re:Free market will kill it (Score 1) 1385
This past summer I took the TGV from Lyon to Paris and had my GPS running for the trip. We topped out at 195mph for a few sections and with several stops averaged 150mph for the 2.5 hour trip. It was quite a blast (especially at 110 euros) and I wish I could do that kind of trip around New England and the mid-Atlantic.
My last Amtrak trip from Vermont to NYC (a 5-hour drive) took 12 hours because of two break-downs of trains ahead of us. I love the train and not having to deal with parking in NYC, but that trip was exhausting.
Comment Re:What about academic freedom? (Score 1) 164
Note that the policy allows for exceptions to be made by submitting a waver request to the provost.
If I remember correctly, one of the other articles on this policy mentioned that requests would likely be automatically approved. The waver request submission was simply added to make open-access the default rather than something faculty would have to opt-in to.
Comment Re:Doesn't really matter what *WE* think, does it? (Score 2, Interesting) 412
No billboards here in Vermont either.
As well, all business signs must be less than 1-story tall. No gas station signs or golden arches on giant towers here.
To make up for the lack of billboards all businesses can get standardized road-sign-sized directional markers just before their turn off the main road. These have the same font as road signs, an arrow, and an optional miniature business logo. I personally find these directional markers very useful for finding and discovering businesses. Its wonderful to have timely and consistent directional information without being constantly bludgeoned with it.
Comment Re:Expert sex change, again? (Score 1) 187
Hmmm.... Doesn't seem to work for me. Just hides the adverts. Oh well.
Submission + - Blackboard awarded $3million patent judgement (desire2learn.com)
Adam Franco writes: "Today Blackboard's patent suit against Desire2Learn has been concluded in Blackboard's favor.
From John Baker, President and CEO of Desire2Learn:
From John Baker, President and CEO of Desire2Learn:
"I am writing to update you on the current status of the Blackboard v. Desire2Learn Patent Infringement lawsuit. Earlier today the jury handed down its verdict that the patent is valid and that Blackboard should be awarded damages of approximately $3 million.
As you know, Blackboard filed a patent infringement suit against Desire2Learn on July 26, 2006. Blackboard claimed that Desire2Learn was infringing all 44 claims of patent number 6,988,138. Last summer, the Court eliminated the first 35 claims of the suit.
Pirate Radio Stations Challenge Feds 348
Thundgelmir writes "Yahoo news has an article about how pirate radio is taking on the FCC. It describes the growing trend of low-power FM stations, and their crusade to be heard across the country and around the internet." From the article: "Over four days, a dozen men and women shyly bumped shoulders as they studied schematics and tinkered with romex connectors, resistors, microphone cords, meters, sockets and capacitors — the stuff of illegal radio stations. 'We're not stealing anything. We're claiming something that's rightfully ours,' he says. His goal is to create FM radio stations faster than the FCC can shut them down ... 'It's always been our position that if enough people go on the air with their stations, the FCC will be overwhelmed and unable to respond.'"
Maryland Governor Wants Paper Ballots 433
supabeast! writes, "Fed up with all the problems in the state's electronic voting system, Maryland Governor Robert Erlich wants the state to scrap the entire system and return to paper ballots. He's threatened to call a special session of the legislature to change the law to allow paper ballots. What makes this particularly interesting is that Erlich is a Republican — the party often maligned for exploiting flaws in electronic systems — and his attempts to clean up Maryland's voting problems are being opposed by Democrats, the party that is usually complaining about electronic voting!"
