CHaN_316 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Yahoo Launches Search Assist

Submitted by CHaN_316 on Tuesday October 02, 2007 @05:00PM

CHaN_316 writes: Reuters has an article entitled, 'Yahoo seeks to make its Web search more predictive.' From the article, 'Yahoo Search Assist suggests related concepts to instantly refine a search, drawing on the wealth of information Yahoo has about what users across its sites are saying when they comment upon Web links, photos, video or the like. Search Assist is designed to be especially helpful when a person is searching for information on an unfamiliar topic. The feature senses when a searcher needs help with a search and it appears as a drop-down menu under the main search results box.' Other new features I've noticed is YouTube and Flickr integrated into their search results page.

Submission + - Why the Windows Genuine Advantage outage occurred (blogspot.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 27, 2007 @05:53PM

An anonymous reader writes: Thomas Hruska of CubicleSoft discovered a secret worldwide Windows Update delivered via Automatic Updates late Friday night. The WGA servers went down early Saturday morning. Here's why.

Submission + - Unions come out against patent reform (techdirt.com)

Submitted by

Christopher Blanc

on Monday August 27, 2007 @05:42PM

Christopher Blanc writes: "The latest news is that Riley has convinced the AFL-CIO to come out against the latest attempt at patent reform. Now there's a lot to dislike in the latest attempt at patent reform, and we'd be upset if it passed as is. But the two specific things that the unions are complaining about are the two most reasonable things in the reform package.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070824/170344.s html"

Feed Engadget: Researcher touts "practical fuel cells" for portable electronics (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed on Monday August 27, 2007 @05:33PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Laptops

There's certainly no shortage or researchers and companies promising to bring fuel cells into everyday gadgets, but Ronald Besser of the Stevens Institute of Technology seems to think he has a system that can stand out from that pack. According to MIT's Technology Review, Besser's proposed system consists of a cylindrical design with "combustor" at the center that facilitates all the necessary reactions to convert methanol into hydrogen. Apparently, that design not only allows for the fuel cells to be made smaller, but more efficient as well. While it seems to still just be on the drawing board, Besser says the system could eventually allow for laptops to run for upwards of 50 hours, and could be made small enough to power other portable electronics as well. In the meantime, however, you may want to keep an eye on some of the systems a littler closer to reality.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Feed Schneier: See-Through Backpacks Required at School (schneier.com)

From feed by bsfeed on Friday July 27, 2007 @04:13PM

Talk about your movie-plot threats: Wissahickon is the most recent district to mandate see-through backpacks, joining several other area suburban districts and private schools as they look to avert tragedies like the 1999 gun killings at Columbine and last December's...

Submission + - Sex Hacks: Technology can be very stimulating

Submitted by First Person on Friday July 27, 2007 @03:43PM

First Person writes: Kudos to those engineers who challenge social conventions, pushing technology into places it has never been (and probably should never go). Consider these recent achievements from the 'Sex Hacks' conference as described in The Register. One might wonder "How could our society advance without access to Fourier-modulated sex toys, platform shoes for trollops, or appliances for interfacing ambient noises with various bodily orifice?" Thankfully, we need not wonder, as all these technologies are available today.

Comment Re:"Don't be evil"?? (Score 2, Insightful) 245

by Monty on Tuesday March 13, 2007 @01:38AM (#18328321) Attached to: Google Aids Indian Goverment Censorship

The problem is, we're talking morality here, not law. Google's motto is "do no evil", not "break no laws". Applying your logic to morality only leads to relativism, where there ceases to be any absolute good just because there's multiple subjectively valid claims to it. And it's this that really bugs people. With that kind of thinking, "evil" means almost nothing at all because the line between good and evil is a moving target.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but there is such a thing as being tried for legal acts in foreign countries. Canadians and Australians can be tried in their home country for sex tourism abroad.

Submission + - New MMORPG Tries "Crowd Sourcing"

Submitted by

KingSkippus

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:55PM

KingSkippus writes: "BBC news is reporting that publisher Acclaim Games is working with developer Dave Perry to develop Top Secret, a new MMORPG using 'crowd sourcing.' It will be a commercial game with a paid professional core team that works with a larger volunteer community to develop the code, stories, art, and audio in the game. Perry says, 'With 20,000 people signed up we are already the biggest development team in history. We will end up with 100,000 people on this team. If 1% is any good, we are good to go.' Could this be a missing link that brings us commercial-quality community-developed gaming?"

Submission + - Pioneer in Global Warming Reasearch Now Skeptical

Submitted by The Underwriter on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:27PM

The Underwriter writes: Article from Canada's National Post, March 2, 2007

"Claude Allegre, one of France's leading socialists and among her most celebrated scientists, was among the first to sound the alarm about the dangers of global warming.

"Fifteen years ago, Dr. Allegre was among the 1500 prominent scientists who signed 'World Scientists' Warning to Humanity' (Wikipedia), a highly publicized letter stressing that global warming's 'potential risks are very great' and demanding a new caring ethic that recognizes the globe's fragility in order to stave off 'spirals of environmental decline, poverty, and unrest, leading to social, economic and environmental collapse.'"

In light of the volumes of research conducted since then, Dr. Allegre recently renounced his previous views. He now believes global warming is "over-hyped and an environmental concern of second rank."

" 'The cause of this climate change is unknown,' he states matter of factly. There is no basis for saying, as most do, that the 'science is settled.' "

Part 13 of the National Post's "Deniers" series, about scientists who contradict the majority opinion on climate science.

Submission + - SOE Striving to progress Star Wars Galaxies

Submitted by Achan on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:15PM

Achan writes: Star Wars Galaxies Forums show us leadership changes are underway. Julio Torres has been removed and we see the game has no clear direction now. DeadMeat tells us there are no plans for an expansion in 2007, there are no plans for updating space content, and asks people for their feedback. They ask for player feedback, however the first thing noticed in the thread is excessive deletions of postings, and telling people they will not role back to pre-nge, the highly controversial changes that almost killed the game. However they still boast they are proud of the current game. Noticeably, SOE responses are much friendlier than in the past. After reading all SOE posts in this thread, one can assume they are working with a low budget and skeleton crew, thoughts?

Comment BSG - Battle of Exodus (Score 1) 763

by CHaN_316 on Sunday December 24, 2006 @04:51AM (#17352432) Attached to: What's your favorite SciFi series

But the episode where the Galactica jumps into atmosphere, descends like a burning angel as it launches it's vipers, then jumps out again...man, if E. E. "Doc" Smith could have seen that episode, he would have died a happy man.

That scene where Galactica jumps into the atmosphere is from the Battle of Exodus. Now you can understand what's everyone ranting and raving about :) That was one heck of a season premiere.

Comment Write your legislators! (Score 3, Insightful) 560

by El Bromo on Saturday November 20, 2004 @02:58PM (#10875693) Attached to: Anti-P2P Law Looms over the Horizon

We here on Slashdot tend to be too cynical, too willing to accept the fact that bad laws will be passed and there's nothing we can do about it. We need to write to our elected officials and let them know how we feel. We can actually help make a difference on issues if we simply take out a few minutes to let our feelings be known.

Teddy Roosevelt once said: "A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." So, make your letters well-written, well-reasoned arguments combined with impassioned pleas for your senator or representative to listen to logic, instead of a hate-filled diatribe as to why these bills are the root of all evil and they are just part of the machine dragging us further and further downward. Otherwise, we'll all be bystanders as this entire class of legislation is forced upon us.

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