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Comment Re:It's OK when it's You (Score 1) 220

You're doing something wrong, as you only need to give Software Update your password once when installing multiple system updates. Unless you have an incredibly slow internet connection, perhaps, and it takes so long to download the updates that the authentication expires?
Games

Submission + - MechWarrior: Living Legends enters Public Beta (mechlivinglegends.net)

Fireye writes: After several years in development, the fan-made Mechwarrior addon for Crysis has entered a public Beta phase! Featured are a smattering of Clan and Inner Sphere Battlemechs, along with Aerospace fighters and Tanks. While it's clear that there's a lot of work yet to be done, the game offers new hope to a somewhat stalled series. Until Smith and Tinker's Mechwarrior sees the light of day, this is the best bet for any Mech Jock to get his or her fix! Catch some of the gameplay here.
Technology

Submission + - GM rolls the last big block V-8 off the line (buffalonews.com)

DesScorp writes: "It's the end of an era in auto technology, as the very last big block V-8 engine from GM has rolled off the production line. The L18 engine was the last variant of an engine that had been in continuous production for over 50 years. The big blocks powered everything from the classic muscle cars of the 60's and 70's, to heavy duty trucks today. News last June triggered a rush of orders for the engine. The Buffalo News reported "When GM said last June the L18 would be eliminated by year’s end, the announcement triggered another show of devotion to the product. Some customers ordered two years’ worth of L18s, to put on the shelf for future use". More than 5 million big blocks have been produced over the engine's history."
Linux

Submission + - SPAM: AstLinux Released!

voiptoday writes: AstLinux is a custom Linux distribution centered around Asterisk, the Open Source PBX. Although Asterisk remains the core focus, other VoIP applications such as OpenSIPS and FreeSWITCH are also available. AstLinux has many features that make it ideal for embedded and commercial Asterisk based solutions.
Link to Original Source
Science

Submission + - OSU Pres Cans Anthrax Vaccine Research on Primates (newsok.com)

Wrath0fb0b writes: OSU President Burns Hargis has abruptly canceled an NIH-funded study on an anthrax vaccine on primates, who would then have to be euthanized. Suspicion that the decision was meant to appease large donor Madeleine Pickens, the wife of noted huntsman T. Boone Pickens, who had previously pressured the school over animal-rights issues. Scientists counter that the study was approved by the NIH peer-review process, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and subject to the Federal Animal Welfare Act (by virtue of using NIH money) and that the decision by the President is short-circuited months of planning and deliberation on the matter.

Hargis has denied being influenced by Pickens and cited "confidential factors" that he couldn't discuss, telling the faculty council that "to go through every lurid detail is simply not prudent". A post on Pickens' blog, on the other hand, obliquely takes credit for the "great decision", noting the a faculty hunch that ""generous benefactor to OSU and her ties to the Humane Society of the United States may have played a role in the termination of the project". Meanwhile, the NIH expressed displeasure at the decision, releasing a statement that stated "NIH fully expects institutions to honor these assurances and commitment to complete NIH supported projects as requested, approved and funded". Some OSU scientists speculated that the fiasco would make it harder for them to receive NIH funding in the future.

Read more: http://www.newsok.com/anthrax-study-rejected-by-osu/article/3421451#ixzz0aIt7Qy5y
Angry reaction: http://speakingofresearch.com/2009/12/16/standing-together-widespread-support-for-osu-and-its-research/
More angry reaction: http://scienceblogs.com/drugmonkey/2009/12/oklahoma_legislator_displeased.php
School responds: http://newsok.com/osu-chief-discusses-research-decision/article/3423662?custom_click=headlines_widget
Pickens' blog post: http://www.madeleinepickens.com/news/osu-president-cancels-antrax-study-proposal-requiring-primate-euthanasia/

Censorship

Submission + - The Chinese Route to a Web Free of Porn (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Despite waves of glamouring campagins based upon concepts like "for the children", "the western web" as a whole provides little to no isolation of pornography. Which is why the chinese are now marching their way to a place where no countries have been to: a web without porn. Recent regulations include closing down "vulgar" mobile sites, disconnecting "obscene" servers & restricting domain registrations. Yet the breaking news for monday is they are planning to enforce a whitelist on foreign domains: in particular, any e-commerce will have to register locally and obey chinese law before they get "whitelisted". Domains will otherwise be "irresolvable" to chinese internet users. Meanwhile the government is promoting this campaign heavily, calling it a "fresh start". It seems the chinese will have to do without the internet, before starting to get rid of porn.
Google

Submission + - Google Provides Free Access to Case Law (blogspot.com)

Mortamer2k writes: Ignorance is not a defense to breaking the law, but providing mere access to it is a multi billion dollar industry. LexisNexis and Westlaw charge many thousands of dollars for access to case law. Google now offers free access to important US state and federal court decisions through Google Scholar. You can search for cases and even find out all of the other cases that cite a specific case.

Submission + - Interview with Linux-native horror game - Amnesia (linux-hardcore.com)

qubodup writes: Frictional Games tell what percentage of their buyers wanted the Linux version for their latest game (Spoiler: It is 12%), what place open source software and Linux has in the development and of course talk about the game Amnesia.
Intel

Submission + - Intel Launches Next-Gen Atom N450 Processor (hothardware.com) 1

MojoKid writes: "Intel has unveiled its next-generation Atom N450 processor and a review of the new Asus Eee PC 1005PE netbook that houses it, shows decent gains in performance and lower power consumption. The Atom N450 has been re-architected similar to Intel's other notebook processors in that it now has an integrated memory controller and graphics core on the CPU itself. In addition, Intel's serial DMI (Direct Media Interface) now replaces the system bus to the Southbridge IO controller. From a performance standpoint, the Atom N450 single core chip offers a nice performance gain versus previous generation Atom CPUs and it appears Intel has dual core variants of the chip on the horizon as well."

Submission + - I, Rodney: profile of roboticist Rodney Brooks (cosmosmagazine.com)

An anonymous reader writes: From backyard tinkering as a child in Adelaide, Rodney Brooks went on to revolutionise robotics, challenging gospel truths and bringing robots to the homes of millions. We meet the charming bad boy of AI.

Comment If you want freedom, pressure Verizon and Sprint (Score 1) 185

There is no exclusivity for the iPhone. Verizon and Sprint could have the iPhone right now but they are not interested in getting devices like the iPhone because that would just turn them into a dumb pipe. Verizon is all about the V-cast and other services along with disabling WiFi and locking down ringtone downloading. That is how CDMA carriers operate.

There was nothing stopping Verizon and Sprint from launching 21 Mbps HSPA+ networks in the US like their CDMA counterparts in Canada did this November. Verizon is going to drag out the LTE deployment as long as they can because nobody is pressuring them to change their game plan and they can milk the marketplace for every cent possible using CDMA. Most Americans seems to think that CDMA is "good enough" but it is slower than HSPA 7.2 let alone 21 Mbps HSPA+. Heck, even Sprint's "4G" Wimax is twice as slow as HSPA+.

If you want real cellular competition, go to the source of the problem and pressure the CDMA carriers to beat AT&T at their own HSPA game. Canadians put on the pressure and the carriers did something about it. Are you really going to let us Canadians make your wireless industry look like a joke?

Comment Re:Let's just be clear on what they mean here (Score 1) 438

Front brakes are always superior to rear.

Not for parking brakes. There is no scenario where this is a good thing. It is perverse and unique for the sake of being perverse and unique.

An everyday regular-production turbo - not special one-off model - were a Saab first.

You are either misinformed or a propagandist. The turbo was a very mainstream option in a very mainstream car starting from 1962. I must say I do like the bit of verbal jiujitsu you pulled there with 'special one-off model'. Maybe you are referring to the Oldsmobile Jetfire that had a 'special one-off' production run of about 10,000 units.

Your logic, knowledge, and common sense fail, but the Apple owner in me appreciates your fanboyism.

Comment Re:Please keep in mind (Score 5, Funny) 447

The Pope's argument would be, of course, that(while God is certainly the ultimate owner of the copyright in question, among a large number of other things) he is God's authorized agent/distributor for this territory.

Since this seems like the best excuse for doing so that I've yet had, I include the "software licensing analogy for distinguishing between Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism" below:

Judaism is a corporate site licence: All members of the organization are automatically entitled to software under the terms of a legal agreement between the organization and the software producer.

Catholicism is per-seat licensing from a value-added reseller: The church has an agreement with the software producer, under which its sales reps entitled to sell the software, along with a suite of helper utilities and documentation supplements, and the support of its field techs, to any interested individuals.

Protestantism is retail shrinkwrap software: The individual buyer enters into a contractual relationship with the software producer, without intermediaries. All that the buyer receives is the software and the packaged manual(sola scriptura).

Addendum: Quakers are FOSS: Individuals get together communally, and anybody who the spirit so moves can get up and code something.

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