Comment Re:Duh, they're CRAP... (Score 1) 753
The lesser-known Hijinks Ensue reference: A Crisis of Faith
Submission + - F.T.C. Chief Balks at Intel Inquiry
An anonymous reader writes: The NY Times reports that "the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has rejected requests by lawmakers, other commissioners and a small rival company to open a formal antitrust investigation of Intel, the world's largest maker of computer microprocessors, for anticompetitive conduct" The description of AMD as a "small rival company" seems strange, but the rest of the article does a good job of summarizing the situation. IANAL, and I can only speak from what I've seen at one large university, but I saw Intel continue to out-sell AMD throughout the Opteron years by, more or less, giving gear away. We saw thousands of Intel nodes purchased when the AMD alternative was faster and would have cost far less over the lifetime of the gear due to lower power consumption — all because Intel "Marketing money" made the initial purchase price so attractive.
Submission + - Music industry still unable to adapt
mmmfugacity writes: "Given that, after around a decade of digital music sharing, the music industry still seems to have largely failed to embrace, or even adapt to, this distribution model, it shouldn't be surprising that the AP reports the industry is mad at Prince for experimenting with another alternative distribution model. Available at CNN, AP reports that "Prince has angered the music industry and stirred up trouble among British retailers by giving away his new album with a tabloid newspaper this weekend. 'Planet Earth' will be packaged with the Mail on Sunday at a price of $2.80. The giveaway has been roundly criticized as a major blow for an industry already facing rapidly declining CD sales." Why not consider moving 2.3 million copies of the CD (the Mail's reported average circulation) to be "sales?" Surely not because Prince is making money off the deal and not the industry? Yet again, with regards to the music industry (not the artists) the phrase from Office Space, "no talent *** clown[s]," comes to mind."
Submission + - Priceline Bid Database Goes Live! (bidlesstravel.com)
xxxTerpxxx writes: "After months of market research and countless hours of sketching wire diagrams of the site, we have finally begun production of BidLessTravel.com — Home of the BidLess Priceline Bids Database!
This site was conceived as a result of being banned from one of those OTHER travel sites that force users to post their Priceline travel bids to a forum, which, in turn, requires other members to scroll through dozens and dozens of posts in order to get a confidence interval of bids to submit to Priceline with a high probability of acceptance. This is so 1992'ish and such an inefficient use of time. In walks BidLessTravel.com!
I would much rather spend my time performing ONE simple query of the database and have the Priceline travel information I seek populate a Priceline bid data table with the information I need to develop a Priceline bid strategy and, ultimately, an informed decision as to how much to bid to maximize my travel savings.
Given the choice between opening dozen of forum-based threads and reading pages and pages of posts or simply checking a box or using a drop-down field to choose the variable for which you want to search (e.g., Priceline hotel zone, zipcode, city/state, etc) and having the computer do the work (usually in less than 10 seconds), we think the choice is clear — BidLessTravel.com will not only save you money, but will also save you time...and time is money...so you will save....well...a lot of money and a lot of time!
The site is still being polished and many of the pages are 'hidden' while we finish adding content; but this is a chance to get a sneek peek at what we have to offer the world of online travel and tourism booking and deal seekers alike. Granted, it will take awhile to build a robust database of bids, so keep checking back, continue to submit your Priceline bids, whether accepted or rejected, and let's grow the community!
Even if you are not in the market for a Priceline hotel or Priceline flights, we also offer a myraid of other services — like a forum with other hot deals unrelated to travel, a political forum for rants and raves about John Edwards' hair, et al — so drop by and have a look around!
Bid Less, Travel More!
http://www.bidlesstravel.com/"
This site was conceived as a result of being banned from one of those OTHER travel sites that force users to post their Priceline travel bids to a forum, which, in turn, requires other members to scroll through dozens and dozens of posts in order to get a confidence interval of bids to submit to Priceline with a high probability of acceptance. This is so 1992'ish and such an inefficient use of time. In walks BidLessTravel.com!
I would much rather spend my time performing ONE simple query of the database and have the Priceline travel information I seek populate a Priceline bid data table with the information I need to develop a Priceline bid strategy and, ultimately, an informed decision as to how much to bid to maximize my travel savings.
Given the choice between opening dozen of forum-based threads and reading pages and pages of posts or simply checking a box or using a drop-down field to choose the variable for which you want to search (e.g., Priceline hotel zone, zipcode, city/state, etc) and having the computer do the work (usually in less than 10 seconds), we think the choice is clear — BidLessTravel.com will not only save you money, but will also save you time...and time is money...so you will save....well...a lot of money and a lot of time!
The site is still being polished and many of the pages are 'hidden' while we finish adding content; but this is a chance to get a sneek peek at what we have to offer the world of online travel and tourism booking and deal seekers alike. Granted, it will take awhile to build a robust database of bids, so keep checking back, continue to submit your Priceline bids, whether accepted or rejected, and let's grow the community!
Even if you are not in the market for a Priceline hotel or Priceline flights, we also offer a myraid of other services — like a forum with other hot deals unrelated to travel, a political forum for rants and raves about John Edwards' hair, et al — so drop by and have a look around!
Bid Less, Travel More!
http://www.bidlesstravel.com/"
Submission + - Is Your Inkjet Printer Spying on You? 1
ulysses38 writes: Seeing Yellow is a site that the good folks at the MIT Media Lab put up to inform consumers that printer manufacturers are embedding personal information in output from inkjet printers. Nope, I am not kidding.
From the site "When you print on a color laser printer, it's likely that you are also printing a pattern of invisible yellow dots. These marks exist to allow the printer companies and governments to track and identify you — presumably as a way to combat money counterfeiting. When one person asked his printer manufacturer about turning off the tracking dots, Secret Service agents showed up at his door several days later."
From the site "When you print on a color laser printer, it's likely that you are also printing a pattern of invisible yellow dots. These marks exist to allow the printer companies and governments to track and identify you — presumably as a way to combat money counterfeiting. When one person asked his printer manufacturer about turning off the tracking dots, Secret Service agents showed up at his door several days later."
Submission + - Microsoft OOXML Maryland desires Input from YOU (groklaw.net)
WillRobinson writes: While there is more information at www.groklaw.net, the state of Maryland is requesting, and actually reading emails about Microsoft's OfficeOpen XML specification (now Ecma 376) being proposed as an addition to their list of usable "open standards". I'm hearing that they are reading the emails and will take them seriously.
If this is an issue you care about, you need to let them know how you feel in polite and informative emails before July 20th, 2007.
They have received only 50 email's to date. I am very sure the slashdot effect, will set a new record.
Submission + - WAIT! Got a fresh install of Ubuntu? Do this first (pimpyourlinux.com)
Dan the man writes: "Ubuntu comes with a polished desktop, and a well organized menu. However there's something missing. This is what everyone should do right after they install Ubuntu. Check it out."
Submission + - Japan banning web sites in elections
couch_warrior writes: "In an intriguing development, Japan is now banning the use of internet sites to solicit voters in its upper house elections. More details are on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6292602.st m"
Submission + - HP Rereleases HP-35s for 35th Anniversary (hp.com)
Submission + - Apache sends open letter to Sun over license terms
twofish writes: "The Apache Software Foundation has posted an open letter to Sun documenting Apache's inability to "acquire an acceptable license for the Java SE 5 technology compatibility kit" needed for the Apache Harmony project.The license for the TCK includes a limit regarding field of use, which the open letter says is contrary to the spirit of open source and yields a significant commercial advantage to Sun.
From the letter:
"Besides holding back the Harmony project — a community-led open source project of the ASF since May of 2005 — this failure to comply with your contractual obligations poses serious risk to the credibility of the JCP as an open standards organization, and the reputation of Java itself as an open technology. We believe that this also threatens the general cooperative nature of the commercial Java ecosystem, puts at risk the long-standing positive relationship between Sun and the ASF, and probably between Sun and the broader open source community — all of which is key to the continued growth of Java.""
From the letter:
"Besides holding back the Harmony project — a community-led open source project of the ASF since May of 2005 — this failure to comply with your contractual obligations poses serious risk to the credibility of the JCP as an open standards organization, and the reputation of Java itself as an open technology. We believe that this also threatens the general cooperative nature of the commercial Java ecosystem, puts at risk the long-standing positive relationship between Sun and the ASF, and probably between Sun and the broader open source community — all of which is key to the continued growth of Java.""
Feed How-To: play DivX and Xvid on your Apple TV (engadget.com)
Filed under: Features, Home Entertainment
The two biggest Apple TV limitations are the lack of codec support (like XviD, DivX, etc.) and not even having the ability to do basic surround sound like Dolby Digital 5.1. These issues were resolved almost immediately after the Apple TV was released, although the hacks were somewhat less than practical. Something as simple as getting your Apple TV to, say, sync and recognize your XviD movies as playable was no simple feat. Thankfully, that's no longer the case, and we want to show you how to get the most out of your Apple TV. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it, too?Continue reading How-To: play DivX and Xvid on your Apple TV
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Submission + - 4th Anniversary of Saddam's Capture in White House
Obi-Akpere writes: As Iraq observed the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein yesterday, the lead item on the White House Web site, under the heading "LATEST NEWS," was a photograph of Clifford the Big Red Dog at the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn.
"There were many children's characters in attendance including Charlie Brown, Bugs Bunny, Arthur, and Curious George," said the caption under the photo, which alternated with a shot of Laura Bush and two Easter bunnies on the Truman Balcony and a painting of one of President Bush's Scottish terriers with a fiddle-playing butterfly.
The president marked the anniversary by going to Arizona to give a speech — about immigration. In his 24-minute address, he didn't so much as mention Iraq
Journal SPAM: Beware Dominionist Sleeper Cell in the U.S.A. 15
If another nation had specifically trained agents in ways to subvert our constitution, and then managed to get these agents embedded into positions throughout the government, would we be afraid? Very afraid!
Submission + - Time-lapse videos increasingly popular
Some Voyeur writes: As cameras, webcams, and Internet access get increasingly
cheaper, easier, and faster, time-lapse videos are a growing
approach to providing an entertaining way to visualize things.
Slashdot's own Roblimo provides a
beautiful Florida sunset,
see an evening of
the Northern Lights,
and Cassini shows a
Saturn ring plane crossing.
Other more down-to-earth examples including a
woman's face every day
and the
2006 Open Source Convention.
You can even watch grass grow for a year.
Any /.'ers want to share their favorite time-lapse videos, along with
any hints/suggestions on how to best produce these.
Any
Submission + - OLPC Operating System Available to Download
ThePopeLayton writes: Engadget is reporting "If you've got a tick to spare, or you're simply the type who shoves any flavor of Linux on any flavor of gadgetry that'll accept it, here's yet another opportunity to kill some time and check out the OLPC a bit further. Apparently, the Linux-based Sugar OS from the One Laptop Per Child project is now available via a bootable LiveCD ISO, and according to user reports, works quite well aside from the "lack of WiFi capability" on a certain MacBook. But hey, why are you relying on us to tell you how it works out? Go on and tag the read link whilst grabbing a fresh cup of joe, and do report back with ample amounts of praise (or grouses) once you've checked things out."
