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Submission + - Civil Liberties in Britain (timesonline.co.uk)

Submitted by Budenny
Budenny writes: This important and sobering essay is by the Home Affairs Editor of the Daily Telegraph. It summarizes some of the changes to British civil liberties made during the present Administration's tenure, and puts together in one place, with concrete examples of their implications, most of the legislation and some of the proposals. It also gives links to supporting material. When you read it (and it is quite long) bear in mind that it leaves out a number of other items relevant to the topic. There is for instance no mention of the Mental Health legislation, which will allow compulsory medication; of the Family Courts, which meet in total secrecy and with no appeal; or of ASBOs, which allow acts not forbidden by any law to be made criminal for particular people.
Microsoft

Is Vista a Trap? 559

Posted by Zonk from the please-keep-ackbar-quotes-to-a-minimum dept.
logube writes "BBC has up an article about the trap of installing Vista in your existing desktop. Written by Tim Weber, a self-confessed 'sucker for technology,' this article is a good introduction to the pain and extra money required to get going with the newest version of Windows. See how you can spend an extra 130 british pounds, and still have no working webcam! Says Weber, 'It took me one day to get online. The detail is tedious and highly technical: reinstalling drivers and router firmware didn't work, but after many trial and error tweaks to Vista's TCP/IP settings, I had internet access. Once online, Creative's website told me that my sound card was a write-off. No Vista support would be forthcoming.'"
Communications

Submission + - Cell Phone in Pocket Badly Burns California Man

Submitted by westlake
westlake writes: Computerworld and USA TODAY are reporting a cell phone fire that has a California man in hospital with second and third degree burns over 60% of his body. The cell phone was in his pants pocket when he fell asleep while sitting in a plastic bathroom chair, apparently leaning against a button. The phone overheated, igniting his polyester pants, nylon shirt and jacket, spreading the fire to the chair. It's likely he survived only because his apartment had sprinklers. Fire investigators are calling it a freakish accident, the man had four times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. But still you have to wonder about a product that ignites before it shuts down. Even an ordinary household iron has that much protection these days.
Music

Submission + - Apple to play fairer with Fairplay?

Submitted by NewbieMonster
NewbieMonster writes: According to tech.co.uk (http://tinyurl.com/yd7ac9), Apple are preparing to license Fair Play to Made for iPod accessory manufacturers. They understand that Apple will also allow streaming of protected AAC content via USB. From the article: The expected announcements could signal a move on Apple's part to take some of the sting out of its Fairplay DRM which has come in for a great deal of criticism over recent months. It may also be a way of keeping Made For iPod makers onside, as the draw of the Microsoft Zune becomes stronger. Could this signal a move to allowing other music players to access and play ITMS content?
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - PlayStation 3 hits 2m mark

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: SCEI announced today that the PS3 has hit the 2,000,000 mark, with 1,000,000 now shipped in Japan. They'd already announced the passing of the 1,000,000 mark in North America, making the PS3 the fastest shipping PlayStation to date.

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