1754165
submission
cayenne8 writes:
It looks like President-Elect Obama is going to tap former Clinton deputy AG Eric Holder as the new Atty. General.
What should interest slashdotters, is the new officials old statements and stances on restrictions on how we communicate on the internet. Here in 1999 in response to some questions post Columbine, he says there has to be 'reasonable' restrictions on how people can interact...etc. Here's a transcript of the video:
"The court has really struck down every government effort to try to regulate it. We tried with regard to pornography. It is gonna be a difficult thing, but it seems to me that if we can come up with reasonable restrictions, reasonable regulations in how people interact on the Internet, that is something that the Supreme Court and the courts ought to favorably look at. — May 28, 1999 NPR Morning Edition"
Is this the 'change' people were counting on with the incoming administration?
583664
submission
cayenne8 writes:
Ok, this is interesting. At the Digital Living Room conference recently, Gerard Kunkel, Comcast's senior VP of user experience stated that the cable company is experimenting with different camera technologies built into devices so it can know who's in your living room — According to this article from Newteevee.com. They're experimenting with cameras on the settop boxes that while apparently NOT using facial recognition software, can still somehow figure out who is in the room, and customize user preferences for cable (favorite channels, etc).
While this sounds 'handy', it also sounds a bit like the tv sets in 1984, where Big Brother watches you, as you watch tv. I am sure, of course, that Comcast wouldn't tap into this for any reason, nor let the authorities tap into this to watch inside your home in real time without a warrant or anything.
I don't think even my tinfoil hat would help with this...
520278
submission
cayenne8 writes:
According to this article , students in the UK aged 14-19 are to have their student records (with personal informations, exam stats, etc) to be permanently available online in a manner accessible to prospective employers.
Wow, no more fudging the old resumes, now companies can log in and verify if you screwed around in school, and base job offers on this information.
I know some employers actually want a college transcript to verify your bachelors degree (for your first 'real job'), but, I doubt most do. And certainly after the first job, they don't go back to review your school history. But, now....with a systems like this, your "permanent record" really now will carry weight, and help or haunt you for the rest of your adult life.
The article mentions the student can limit access, but, what help with this be? If a prospective employer wants to view your scholastic information, and you refuse, well, you must be hiding something.
What's next? Having your DNA profile put up in a permanently accessible database? I'm sure prospective employers and insurance companies would LOVE to check that out.
509800
submission
cayenne8 writes:
In a recent press conference, Mitt Romney announced that he is pulling out of the race for nomination to the Republican party .
That leaves McCain, Huckabee and Paul. Anyone think this will give Huckabee or Paul a chance to get more in in a debate or gain more delegates? The ones Mitt formerly had have to go somewhere.....
Romney said: He then told the crowd he disagrees with McCain on a number of issues, but that he'd given the mater a lot of thougth and if he fought on all the way to the Republican convention, " I forestall the launch of a national campaign and frankly I'd be makign it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win. Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."
You think this is what he really thinks...or are there some backroom politics going on? Maybe he's saving up for another run in the future? Surely with all the mud slinging between him and McCain, he isn't on a short list for VP?
You know...think what you will about Clinton/Obama if you're on the Rep. side, but, associating them with "terror in a time of war" is really kind of low, isn't it?
460932
submission
cayenne8 writes:
Interesting article and interview with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame. Recently, Trent bankrolled and produced a collaboration with musician Saul Williams on the album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust.
Like the band Radiohead, they wanted to experiment with releasing the album sans a record label attachment, and make it available over the internet for download......asking for $5 as a volunteer price tag.
Trent was disappointed in that only about 18% of people paid for the music.
In an interview with Trent, he was asked what would be a better way....he said that with so many people considering music to be "free" today that another revenue method may be needed:
"I think if there was an ISP tax of some sort, we can say to the consumer, 'All music is now available and able to be downloaded and put in your car and put in your iPod and put up your a — if you want and it's $5 on your cable bill.'"
I guess he didn't consider that not EVERYONE with an ISP connection downloads music...
456628
submission
cayenne8 writes:
Well, it appears that Apple has just released a new update to the Mac Pro line. This time, they're equiping them with the latest Intel Quad-Core Intel Xeon "Harpertown" processors, up to 3.2 GHz. It also appears that the RAID card that previously quietly supported SAS, is now being touted publicly to support "15,000-rpm Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) 3Gb/s drives with 300GB of capacity". The Mac Pro also comes with dual Superdrive DVD units....The grapics are standard with ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory, PCI Express 2.0, and two dual-link DVI ports, or optional NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 graphics with 1.5GB of GDDR3 memory and "a 3D stereo port for stereo-in-a-window applications".
Baseline unit starts at $2,799.00 which is with two 2.8 GHz Quad core Xeon processors, 2G RAM and at 320 GB Serial ATA harddrive. As usual, it looks that it is much cheaper to buy the box from them with the bare RAM and Harddrive config....and to add those on yourself to save a large amount of $$$.
This looks to be quite a 'beefy' box that Apple has put out. Loaded up, and running VMware Fusion software, will allow you to run OSX, any windows you need, and some linux too. Lots of money, but, you'd then have the licenses, and horsepower to run a large number of machines all at once....so, drop a little cash had have the best of all worlds of computing.
Now...where's my checkbook?
400199
submission
cayenne8 writes:
Interesting article at CNET
that indicates already that possibly playing Guitar Hero, will help influence the kids of today to pick up a REAL guitar and learn to play.
It has been reported by guitar instructors, that enrollments of all ages have been increasing, and that possibly the Guitar Hero series of games is responsible. It seems that the game has opened the door to youngsters (and some not so youngsters) to great guitar driven songs and bands of the past. And while the game doesn't really give you any music skills as far as melody, harmony, etc....it does help one to generate a good sense of rhythm.
Personally, I hope it opens the eyes of kids today of what a good rock band should be. That tomorrow's bands may reach back to the past to become entities that actually PLAY their own instruments, and have stage presence and actually sing without twelve tons of electronic help.
As the article says: "Is tomorrow's Clapton playing 'Guitar Hero'(Today)?
285929
submission
cayenne8 writes:
Apparently the long rumored Led Zeppelin reunion is going to happen. It will be a one off show with original members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jason Bohnam (John's son) in tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, a co-founder of Atlantic Records who died recently.
The website where you can register for a lottery for tickets has crashed due to demand for the tickets. Apparently, Led Zeppelin, a group long defunct, can still have the power to 'slashdot' a website. Why not? They did recently set records for their DVD released a couple of years ago. Is there any group today that will have that kind of staying power?
To add insult to injury to the crashed site, it is at Ahmettribute.com
246589
submission
cayenne8 writes:
Way back when (2000), during that election, there were some sites set up (voteswap.com and votexchange.com) for people across the nation to agree to swap votes. This was set up mostly for Nader and Gore voters to work against Bush.
California representatives threatened to proscute these sites as criminal offenses, and many of them shut down. On Monday, the 9th US court of appeals upheld that "the websites' vote-swapping mechanisms as well as the communication and vote swaps they enabled were constitutionally protected" and California's spurious threats violated the First Amendment. The 9th Circuit also said the threats violated the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause."
See the story HERE .
246557
submission
cayenne8 writes:
Well, a few days ago, we heard that Nissan was fixing its cars up to detect if you've had a drink or two, and not let you drive. Now, it appears that Nissan is going to brake for you now too. .
From the article, "When speed and distance sensors on the car detect an imminent crash, the gas pedal lifts slightly to warn the driver. If the driver eases pressure on the gas pedal in response, the car automatically brakes instead of waiting until the driver slams a foot on the brake pedal".
A more detailed article on this is HERE
Personally, I like to be MORE in control of my own car, not less....remind me not to buy any newer Nissan model cars in the future, unless these options can be disabled or left off the car entirely.
213849
submission
cayenne8 writes:
Well, if you are in the U.K. and want an iPhone, it looks like you will be in the same boat as those in the US — stuck with one choice of provider. According to this article it appears that O2, will be getting the nod from Apple as the exclusive network partner for the iPhone in the UK.
It appears O2 will beat out Vodaphone which had hoped to land the iPhone deal for the UK.
I'm wondering, will Apple be cherrypicking a different provider for each country in the EU? It sounds like at this point, with the iPhone in the EU, you won't be 'free' to be switching SIMS they way you have in the past. If you get an iPhone, it sounds like you will be stuck with that provider for that country.
170523
submission
cayenne8 writes:
It looks like Apple has upgraded the MacBook to use the Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 Ghz processor, 1GB of Ram, and larger harddrives in all models.
I wonder if this means the MacBook Pro will be gaining soon? I was thinking of getting one in the next month or so, but may put that on hold to see since the newly upgraded MacBook's processor is the same as the lower end Macbook Pro's at a $999 difference. I'd have to think the Pro's are gonna be upgraded soon.
51812
submission
cayenne8 writes:
It looks like the Dept. of Homeland security is at it again. This time, a data mining system, used to evalute you the air passenger as to your security risk, and give you a rating. You think you have problems with a faulty credit score? Wait till you get a faulty risk assessment rating...because you cannot legally find out what your rating is according to the article about the new Automated Targeting System.
"The Automated Targeting System (ATS) is a data-mining system that will let the agency create "risk assessments" of tens of millions of travelers. The information will be held for 40 years, and even U.S. citizens will have no right to view those risk assessments. "
