Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment I get the states' rights thing... (Score 1) 821

But maybe an open sourced voting machine run by a non-profit? Maybe a civilian department? Private companies making voting machines doesn't seem like a great idea. And there are always the conspiracy theorists who will use it as a psychological out so they never have to accept a loss. Let them find another out. Like the Illuminati and mind control or something..

Comment Dear television content providers. (Score 1) 1004

We know that the cable and satellite companies have a monopolistic ball grab on you. I love some of what you do and would like to give you monies. But the means by which that I am forced to use to get your hard work, (like said assclown franchise locking "service" providers), want me to subscribe to their "packages" so very bad.

I schluffed off their subscriptions, only using their "high speed internet". But they know we'll use it to watch your programs that we download for free like little commie criminals, so they want to "cap" us so we don't download too much! "Cap" has a jaunty ring to it, doesn't it. Like a night cap! But its not for lack of trying!

Creators of television programs, I want to give you monies, shinies, ducats, for your hard work. Let me download it, as soon as its aired. Even if you're soulless overlords like NBC, Syfy, etc., get a cut. Here, I'll address them directly:

Soulless overlords, please let me buy reasonably priced shows I want to watch, a la cart. Take a moment whilst you sit upon throne of blood and bone. Raise your hand, not to cause the death shrieks of cancelled shows we like, or spew forth more reality show afterbirth from your gaping, fetid maw; allow me to download and keep, episodes of Game of Thrones, Parks and Recreation. I would make offering. No animal burning, though.

Who knows? You might, even then, squint and raise a claw? Hoof? Mandible? to your countless dead eyes and gaze in wonder at the brilliant light of realization: Where there was once a cancelled Firefly or Farscape, they might yet be reborn in a righteous blaze of countless micro transactions the likes of which even Kickstarter.com hasn't seen.
Security

Submission + - EU Security Agency Highlights Smartphone Risks (eweekeurope.co.uk)

geek4 writes: The European agency ENISA has warned of the possible security risks posed by the humble smartphone

The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has published a new report (PDF) in which it warns of the possible security threats posed by the smartphone.

ENISA is an agency of the European Union and its new report identifies the top security risks of smartphone use, as well as offering some practical security advice for businesses, consumers and governments.

The ENISA report comes after analyst house Gartner revealed in early November that worldwide mobile phone sales had grown by 35 percent in the third quarter. However that was nothing compared to the 96 percent rise in smartphone sales during the same period, with 80 million smartphones sold in that period alone.

Submission + - Antikythera mechanism recreated in Lego (guardian.co.uk)

An anonymous reader writes: Exciting news for archaeologists and Lego-philes alike:
"Two years ago, a paper was published in Nature describing the function of the oldest known scientific computer, a device built in Greece around 100 BCE. Recovered in 1901 from a shipwreck near the island of Antikythera, this mechanism had been lost and unknown for 2000 years. It took one century for scientists to understand its purpose: it is an astronomical clock that determines the positions of celestial bodies with extraordinary precision. In 2010, a fully-functional replica was constructed out of Lego"

Submission + - The woman's whose making your privacy her business (theglobeandmail.com)

davecb writes: The woman who faced down Facebook and was dissed by Silicon Valley business boys as "an old-fashioned scold" is really one of the early advocates for using the internet for access to information, and to open up government.

The Globe and Mail has an interview today with Jennifer Stoddart, the privacy commisioner of Canada, who went up against Facebook for all of us, and made them back down.

Slashdot Top Deals

The Tao is like a glob pattern: used but never used up. It is like the extern void: filled with infinite possibilities.

Working...