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Comment Re: brilliant and dangerous? (Score 2, Interesting) 1134

by Dark Coder (#27212527) Attached to: Are Quirky Developers Brilliant Or Dangerous?

Try hiring ANY decent coder that works with my former boss's highly impossible deadlines.

I'm with previous parents. A good fire extinguisher (Asperger's) is handy to have. Deadline gets met, even though the end-result (support and maintenance) sucks.

Most start-ups are in it for a quick and lucrative exit strategy (post IPO-sale).

Comment Re:Ask them two questions (Score 1) 485

by Dark Coder (#25334855) Attached to: Choosing a Replacement Email System For a University?

Ok, so it's very secured between the University and Google Data Center.. Big whoop.

How secured is it when Google EULA states that sharing of your aggregates, University IP, patents, and relations with other GMail account holders (and god forbid, your personal) data with other nosey 3rd-party is very EXPECTED?
Businesses

Submission + - Giving up personal copyrights to a business

Submitted by E
E writes: Prior to my current job I have created many different programs and applications which I retain full copyrights to (250k+ loc). Some were created for companies others as hobbies and currently, many of them sit rather idle. I have been offered a partnership in a small company with big potential, where I am the only tech person. In all the leagalities of the process, there is a copyright clause that basically says the company owns anything and everything tech related I do inside and outside of work. This is a fairly standard clause, however I am stuck on what to do.

I will be consulting a lawyer, but wanted some feedback first on what others may have done. I have been told already that the partnership won't buy it from me for what the software is worth, and if my copyrights don't ever make money, the partners won't care about it. Knowing legally, if I do any development in the future, it belongs to the partnership. Should I:
(1) Let the company take my copyrights and hope the partnership pays off.
(2) Sell the rights to someone else and "cash out" on what I currently have.
(3) Pretend the clause isn't in there and continue dev as a hobby/side business.
(4) Release it under an OSS license, and hope someone will continue dev work (since legally I can't), knowing it will most likely become stagnant or abandoned.
(5) Focus on the partnership and archive my software (If I don't do anything with them in the future, the partnership has no claims to them).
(6) Hold out until the clause is changed.
(7) Any other options or advice?

Has anyone else been in a similar situation, and what have you done?
XBox (Games)

Submission + - Microsoft starts banning modified 360 consoles.

Submitted by Tiger Nachos
Tiger Nachos writes: Microsoft has started to ban XBOX 360 consoles with modified drive firmware. Posts on the official XBOX.com site confirm the bans. It appears that there are some glitches, as some users with modified firmware claim not to be banned, and other users with unmodified systems also claim to be banned. Like the original wave of bans on the original XBOX console, Microsoft only appears to be banning the modified system, and not the user account. Moving the user account to an unmodified system allows users to continue playing online over the Xbox LIVE service. http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/05/17/ 545414.aspx and http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEZAuFAEuA jENKDCMV.php discuss the ban.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - New Bill S.1348 contains SKIL bill H-1B expansion.

Submitted by
Anomalous Cowheart
Anomalous Cowheart writes: "The new senate bill to expand and monitor immigration is now on-line : Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. The fine print in Subtitle B — SKIL Act of 2007 (I'd link but it keeps changing) contains H-1B expansion upping the quota to 115,000 with twenty percent annual growth. Personally I get scared when George Bush and Ted Kennedy agree on something. There's a lot of voices of these issues: for some not opening H-1B up to all professional fiels and 20% growth on an already soft "cap" is a deal breaker. Others say there should be more non-immigrant workers. What say you?"

Labs Compete to Build New Nuclear Bomb 949

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the who-is-tha-bomb-at-makin'-bombs dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Yahoo! News is reporting that two labs are currently competing to design the first new nuclear bomb in twenty years. The new bomb was approved as a part of the 2006 defense spending bill. From the article: 'Proponents of the project say the U.S. would lose its so-called "strategic deterrent" unless it replaces its aging arsenal of about 6,000 bombs, which will become potentially unreliable within 15 years. A new, more reliable weapon, they say, would help the nation reduce its stockpile.'"

Lenovo Backtracks on Linux Support Statement 74

Posted by timothy from the danke-sehr dept.
After a report that the company would not install or support the Linux operating system on any of its PCs, morcego writes "Looks like Lenovo decided Linux is a good idea after all. From the article: 'Lenovo executives Monday backtracked from remarks last week that the company would not support Linux on its PCs, saying it would continue to pre-load Linux onto ThinkPads on a custom-order basis for customers who purchase licenses on their own. In addition, they said, the Raleigh, N.C.-based company was working behind the scenes to boost its Linux support in conjunction with the expected July release of the next version of Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop.'"

Canadian Domain Registry Pulls Plug on Free Speech 210

Posted by Zonk from the surprised-we-haven't-seen-that-here dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The staff of a Canadian political candidate bragged today that he had managed to shut down a website critical of his involvement in a fundraising scandal, by having the country's registrar of domains pull the DNS records for the site. Criticism from bloggers and free speech advocates has been negative, and is coming from across the political spectrum."

The Molecular Secrets of Cream Cheese 211

Posted by Zonk from the pandering-to-the-editors dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "The June issue of Wired Magazine carries a story about one of the two university labs in the U.S. dedicated to cream cheese research. This one is -- where else? -- in Madison, Wisconsin, where researchers are exploring the molecular mysteries of cream cheese. You may not know, but this cheese is tricky to produce because the acid-secreting bacteria used to coagulate the milk need to be killed at the right time. The researchers are now writing a guidebook about the secrets of cream cheese, a book which will be available to anyone, in a process similar to the open source movement for software. For more information, please read the entertaining article of Wired magazine, 'Schmear Campaign' or this summary to discover little-known facts about cream cheese."

RuneScape - Digging The Virtual Economy 31

Posted by Zonk from the micro-macro-economics dept.
Inquisitor911 writes "One of the things that is peculiar about MMORPGs are the constantly changing virtual markets. For example, look at RuneScape's Economic Fluctuations after the release of skills allowing players to build in-game houses." From the post: "The initial frenzy started with realtors. Once the announcement about the housing update was made, members flocked to purchase houses (placed in a magical portal, so they don't clutter up the landscape) and then flocked to build. A market sprang up within minutes that catered to those too busy, too intent, or too high-level to bother gathering up resources. Planks, nails, clay, rock, tiles, and more suddenly began to command exceptional prices. Clay went from 10 gold pieces to 1000 gold pieces within minutes. Right now it is hovering between a low of 600 or 700 gold pieces for dry clay to about 1000 gold pieces for wet clay, but the price is fluctuating downwards as the initial demand levels off and more suppliers get in on the action. I expect it will peak again on the weekend as more players become aware of the new function."

Captain Copyright Targets Kids 430

Posted by Zonk from the up-in-the-sky-what-is-that dept.
frank249 writes "The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency has set up a copyright education website called Captain Copyright. There is a section for kids with comic books and a section for teachers for grades 1-3, 3-6 and 6-8. An example of a grade 1 class activity: 'Present the following situation to students: Your friend is downloading a song off the Internet. In comes Captain Copyright. Ask: What do you think Captain Copyright will say? Encourage students to brainstorm. Then hand out (or read) Line Master: Some Copyright Laws.' In Canadian law it is incorrect to download a song unless you pay for it. They also neglect to mention that Canadians pay a tax on blank media that is meant to compensate artists for downloads."

Alien Bacteria May Have Landed in India 116

Posted by Zonk from the quite-the-little-travelers dept.
coastal984 writes "CNN & Popular Science are reporting that a scientist in India believes he may have discovered alien life in water collected from a unusually colored rainstorm. From the article: 'So how to explain them? Louis speculates that the particles could be extraterrestrial bacteria adapted to the harsh conditions of space and that the microbes hitched a ride on a comet or meteorite that later broke apart in the upper atmosphere and mixed with rain clouds above India.'"

Government May Help Bells Defend Against Wiretap Suits 315

Posted by Zonk from the keeping-the-ducks-in-a-row dept.
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "As lawsuits mount against phone companies from plaintiffs who allege their call records were handed over to the National Security Agency illegally, the companies' defense may get help from the U.S. government, the Wall Street Journal reports. From the article: 'The plaintiffs, who accuse Bell phone companies of privacy violations and are seeking billions of dollars in damages, would need to delve into the depths of the NSA's surveillance program to make their cases. But the government considers such information top secret, and legal experts expect the Bush administration to assert the "state secrets" privilege in the 20 or more lawsuits filed by privacy advocates in recent weeks. If judges accept the claim, as has been the case in nearly every instance in which it has been asserted since the early 1950s, the suits will dissolve.'"

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