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The Courts

UK Man Convicted For Wi-Fi Piggybacking 659

Posted by kdawson
CatrionaMcM tips us to a BBC story reporting that Gregory Straszkiewicz, a UK resident, was fined £500 and sentenced to a conditional discharge for 12 months after being caught using a laptop from a car parked outside somebody else's house. '[H]e was prosecuted under the Communications Act and found guilty of dishonestly obtaining an electronic communications service.' A separate BBC story notes that two other people in England were arrested and cautioned for sharing Wi-Fi uninvited.
Hardware

Electrically Conductive Plastic Polymer 118

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the shock-resistance dept.
AustinSlacker writes to mention Fox news is reporting that a Dutch researcher is announcing a breakthrough in plastics. A new way of rebuilding plastics could allow them to conduct electricity just as well as the silicon wafers currently used in electronic gadgets. "Prins discovered that in plastics, the movement of electric charges was mainly hindered by the shape of the polymer, the chain-like molecular structure [that is] the basis of each kind of plastic. Prins extended the work of a German group that had reshaped a polymer to form a ladder-like structures. By bombarding the specially developed plastic with electrons from a particle accelerator, she was able to study rapid electrical reactions and demonstrate the new plastic's ability to conduct electricity much better than regular plastic and as well as silicon chips."
Power

The Coming Uranium Crisis 485

Posted by CmdrTaco from the someone-just-invent-mr-fusion dept.
tcd004 writes "MIT reports that the world is running out of fuel for our nuclear reactors due to production limitations and an aging infrastructure. Nuclear power has gained popularity as a carbon-free energy source in recent years, but Dr. Thomas Neff, a research affiliate at MIT's Center for International Studies, warned that fuel scarcity could drive up prices and kill the industry before it gets back on its feet. Passport has pulled together some interesting numbers: there are 440 reactors currently in operation and 82 new plants under construction. The demand for fuel has driven the price of uranium up more than 40% in the last few months — 900% over the last decade. You can follow the spot price for a pound of uranium. "
The Courts

RIAA Receives Stern Letter, Folds 382

Posted by kdawson from the turning-tide dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In SONY BMG v. Merchant, in California, the defendant's lawyer wrote the RIAA a rather stern letter recounting how weak the RIAA's evidence is, referring to the deposition of the RIAA's expert witness (see Slashdot commentary), and threatening a malicious prosecution lawsuit. The very same day the RIAA put its tail between its legs and dropped the case, filing a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal. About an hour earlier NYCL had termed the letter a 'model letter'; maybe he was right."
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - PS3 Folding like crazy

Submitted by hlimethe3rd
hlimethe3rd writes: We've seen numerous articles about the Playstation 3 being a total flop as a gaming machine. But now, the machine is tearing through Folding@Home. It already accounts for almost 75% of the FLOPS for the whole project . Much in the same way as the GPU client produced amazing results, the PS3's cell architecture is ideally suited for Folding calculations. So don't buy one as a gaming console, buy one to save your grandmother.
Linux Business

Submission + - Is Linux on Dell a Pipe Dream?

Submitted by
Neutrino Linguino
Neutrino Linguino writes: "With all the buzz surrounding Dell Linux systems for the Desktop recently, the real issue at hand has seen little, if any, coverage... What would it cost for an OEM to ship Linux to the home-user? The answer is rather surprising, and deals with Crapware Profits, the Microsoft Tax, Support Costs, and other issues.

Simply put, to cater to the lowest common denominator [the average joe], it would cost the OEM a lot more to ship Linux over Windows."
User Journal

Journal Journal: Ella the Cat 3

Journal by Ella the Cat

Ella the Cat died today aged 17.5 or about 86 in cat years, but at least she went quickly in someone's arms of natural causes rather than having to be put to sleep. So I won't be posting here anymore using her account, which, I'm pleased to say, I got to excellent karma without cheating. The website will be going soon, so if you want any Aibo pictures, grab them while you can.

Comment Re:A day without MP3? (Score 1) 204

by Ella the Cat (#7505217) Attached to: SliMP3 Successor; Radio Station in a Box
Hmmm. Broadcast royalties? If things have become that silly, then I'd argue that anyone listening to my music sent over my WEP secured 802.11b link is circumventing the copy protection and violating the DMCA or suchlike. If it doesn't matter legally whether or not copy protection or security works as advertised or is imperfect or is bypassable by trivial means, then the law cuts both ways and I can use the DMCA to argue I'm not broadcasting because I have put in place measures to stop unuthorised reception. Yep, IANAL!

Comment Gnutella (Score 0) 668

by capitalsucks (#6442159) Attached to: New Kazaa Lite Protects Identity
<a href="http://www.winamp.com/news.jhtml?articleid=1 0000">Nullsoft has an article</a> that says Gnutella and other such networks are now <b>legal</b>. So once KaZaA <i>finally</i> gets the axe, we can all migrate to Gnutella and like ourselves all the better for it!
User Journal

Journal Journal: A

Journal by readpunk

A
User Journal

Journal Journal: Karma Again 1

Journal by capitalsucks

Bleh its not fair! When will I get my fucking Karma back?!

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