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Submission + - Ubuntu to switch to systemd (markshuttleworth.com)

Submitted by GuerillaRadio
GuerillaRadio writes: Following the decision for Debian to switch to the systemd init system, Ubuntu founder and SABDFL Mark Shuttleworth has posted a blog entry indicating that Ubuntu will now follow in this decision. "Nevertheless, the decision is for systemd, and given that Ubuntu is quite centrally a member of the Debian family, that’s a decision we support. I will ask members of the Ubuntu community to help to implement this decision efficiently, bringing systemd into both Debian and Ubuntu safely and expeditiously."

Submission + - CmdrTaco: Anti-Beta Movement a "Vocal Minority" (washingtonpost.com) 30

Submitted by Antipater
Antipater writes: The furor over Slashdot Beta is loud enough that even outside media has begun to notice. The Washington Post's tech blog The Switch has written a piece on the issue, and the anti-Beta protesters aren't going to be happy about it. The Post questioned Slashdot founder Rob Malda, who believes the protests are the work of only a vocal minority or readers: "It's easy to forget that the vocal population of a community driven site like Slashdot might be the most important group, but they are typically also the smallest class of users." The current caretakers of Slashdot need to balance the needs of all users with their limited engineering resources, Malda argues — noting wryly, "It ain't easy."

Comment Re:How does that work? (Score 2) 180

by FingerDemon (#44806229) Attached to: New Research Could Slow Human Aging
You are over simplifying things. I mean it is great if you are on track to a long and happy life of easy to maintain good health. But I can think of numerous scenarios right now where a person's grandparents die of natural causes before 60 and the genetic issues that person inherits are now treatable with modern medicine. Sure on an actuarial table, it doesn't look good. But it is probably better to say that if all your grandparents died of natural causes before age 60, make sure you have regular checkups with your doctor as you hit your forties and beyond.

Anecdotally, I had a relative that was a heavy smoker (cigarettes) and overate all the wrong things. Had warnings for years from doctors. He must have been blessed genetically because he still lived a pretty long time. Who knows how much longer he would have lived if he had eaten a better diet, quit smoking and gotten some exercise? Genetics is a part of the picture. It isn't everything. I also think stress has a big role. You sound pretty happy with your lifestyle. That can help. Just stay away from busses when you are drinking beer. :-)
Databases

Transgendered Folks Encountering Document/Database ID Hassles 814

Posted by Soulskill from the flipping-bits dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Most of us hear the equivalent of 'let me bring up your record' several times a week or month when dealing with businesses and government agencies; sometimes there's a problem, but clerks are accustomed to dealing with changes in street address, phone numbers, company affiliation, and even personal names (after marriage). But what about gender? Transgendered folks are encountering embarrassing moments when they have to explain that their gender has changed from 'M' to 'F' or vice versa. While there are many issues involved in discrimination against transgendered individuals, I have to confess that the first thing that came to my mind was the impact on database design and maintenance."
Facebook

Facebook and Microsoft Disclose Government Requests For User Data 140

Posted by Soulskill from the know-when-to-walk-away-know-when-to-run dept.
wiredmikey writes "Facebook and Microsoft say they received thousands of requests for information from U.S. authorities last year but are prohibited from listing a separate tally for security-related requests or secret court orders related to terror probes. The two companies have come under heightened scrutiny since reports leaked of a vast secret Internet surveillance program U.S. authorities insist targets only foreign terror suspects and is needed to prevent attacks. Facebook said Friday it had received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for user data affecting 18,000 to 19,000 accounts during the second half of last year and Microsoft said it had received 6,000 to 7,000 requests affecting 31,000 to 32,000 accounts during the same period." Meanwhile, an article at the Guardian is suggesting the government may have better targets to pursue than Edward Snowden. "[U.S. director of national intelligence James Clapper] has come out vocally to condemn Snowden as a traitor to the public interest and the country, yet a review of Booz Allen's own history suggests that the government should be investigating his former employer, rather than the whistleblower."
DRM

Netflix Using HTML5 Video For ARM Chromebook 232

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the shiny-new-antifeatures dept.
sfcrazy writes "Netflix is using HTML5 video streaming instead of using Microsoft's Silverlight on Chromebooks (which now supports DRM for HTML5). Recently Google enabled the much controversial DRM support for HTML5 in Chrome OS to bring services like Netflix to Chromebooks using HTML5." Still no word on general support for GNU/Linux, but x86 or ARM, what's the difference? (If you're ok with DRM at least.)

Comment Sadly... (Score 1) 1651

by FingerDemon (#41523399) Attached to: To Encourage Biking, Lose the Helmets
'Pushing helmets really kills cycling and bike-sharing in particular because it promotes a sense of danger that just isn't justified — in fact, cycling has many health benefits,' says Piet de Jong.

Sadly, right after saying this, Piet de Jong got on his bicycle without a helmet and crashed. After hitting his head on the curb, he was rushed by ambulance to the hospital for emergency brain surgery.
Android

Developer Drops Game Price To $0 Citing Android Piracy 433

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the step-two-still-unknown dept.
hypnosec writes with news of a curious way of fighting piracy. From the article: "Android based devices are being activated at the rate of million a day and users are downloading apps and games at a rate never seen before. Despite these promising stats, developers of Android based games and apps are not really keen on porting games and apps that have been successful on iOS to Android. Why? Rampant piracy on Android! Madfinger Games has joined the long list of developers who have recently turned their paid Android based game, Dead Trigger, to a free one. Originally priced at $0.99 on Play Store, the first person shooter game is now available for free . The iOS version of the game still costs $0.99 and hasn't been made free." Zero-cost, but certainly not Free Software; one has to wonder whether Open Source games with a "donation" build in the store would do better than proprietary games with upfront costs.

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