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Businesses

Could CA Violent Game Law Lead To an Industry Exodus? 142

donniebaseball23 writes "Oral arguments for the California games law are set to begin on November 2. It's a hugely important court case for the industry, and if the Supreme Court sides with the legislators it could lead to an exodus of talent from the games business, says one attorney. 'Certainly less games would be produced and there would be a corresponding job loss,' said Patrick Sweeney, who leads the Video Game practice at Reed Smith LLP. 'But I expect the impact will likely be significantly deeper. I believe the independent development community would be severely impacted. Innovation, both from a creative and technological aspect, would also be stifled. The companies, brands and individuals that we should be embracing as the visionaries of this creative and collaborative industry will migrate their talents to a more expressive medium.' Meanwhile, Dr. Cheryl K. Olson, author of Grand Theft Childhood, notes that even if California gets its way, it could backfire."
Input Devices

How To Enter Equations Quickly In Class? 823

AdmiralXyz writes "I'm a university student, and I like to take notes on my (non-tablet) computer whenever possible, so it's easier to sort, categorize, and search through them later. Trouble is, I'm going into higher and higher math classes, and typing "f_X(x) = integral(-infinity, infinity, f(x,y) dy)" just isn't cutting it anymore: I need a way to get real-looking equations into my notes. I'm not particular about the details, the only requirement is that I need to keep up with the lecture, so it has to be fast, fast, fast. Straight LaTeX is way too slow, and Microsoft's Equation Editor isn't even worth mentioning. The platform is not a concern (I'm on a MacBook Pro and can run either Windows or Ubuntu in a virtual box if need be), but the less of a hit to battery life, the better. I've looked at several dedicated equation editing programs, but none of them, or their reviews, make any mention of speed. I've even thought about investing in a low-end Wacom tablet (does anyone know if there are ultra-cheap graphics tablets designed for non-artists?), but I figured I'd see if anyone at Slashdot has a better solution."

Feed Engadget: Google hits Android ROM modder with a cease-and-desist letter (engadget.com)

So this is interesting: apparently Google's hit the developer of the Cyanogen modded Android ROM with a cease-and-desist letter, asking him to stop distributing the closed-source Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. What's a little strange is that Cyanogen is targeted at "Google Experience" devices like the G1 and myTouch, so it's not like Google is really protecting anything here -- leading us to wonder if they're just using the copyright argument to shut down a popular mod that's tempted over 30,000 users into rooting their phones. That's just speculation on our part, though -- the dev says he's trying to open a dialogue with Google, so perhaps we'll find out some more answers soon.

[Via Android and Me]

Filed under: Cellphones

Google hits Android ROM modder with a cease-and-desist letter originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Submission + - Google Serves a Cease and Desist order to Android (androidandme.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Google served a Cease and Desist order to a popular android developer for distributing closed source Google applications. I'm not any good at writing summary's so hopefully someone submitted it with a better one. Just thought i'd bring it up.
Biotech

On-Body Circuits Create New Sense Organ 289

destinyland writes "In 'My New Sense Organ,' a science writer tests 'a new sense' — the ability to always know true north — by strapping a circuit board to her ankle. It's connected to an electronic compass and an ankle band with eight skin buzzers. The result? 'I had wrong assumptions I didn't know about ... I returned home to Washington DC to find that, far worse than my old haunt San Francisco, my mental map of DC swapped north for west. I started getting more lost than ever as the two spatial concepts of DC did battle in my head.' The device also detects 'the specific places where infrastructure interferes with the earth's magnetic fields.'

Comment Re:Memtest not perfect. (Score 1) 724

"My experience with memtest is you can trust the results if it says the memory is bad, however if the memory passed it could still be bad."

This has been my experience too. I hate to recommend Microsoft products but I've found that Windows Memory Diagnostic to be more thorough than memtest86. It has found bad memory that memtest86 missed on more than one occasion.

Comment Re:Open Source is the best you can have in science (Score 1) 250

Is this the spec to which you refer? http://www.certif.com/index.html If it is then you are incorrect about it being open source. A license is required to run it. It is possible to obtain the code so you can build it, but sharing it is definitely not allowed. The macros you write for it, however, are as open as you'd like them to be.
Biotech

Scientists Discover Proteins Controlling Evolution 436

Khemisty writes "Evolutionary changes are supposed to take place gradually and randomly, under pressure from natural selection. But a team of Princeton scientists investigating a group of proteins that help cells burn energy stumbled across evidence that this is not how evolution works. In fact, their discovery could revolutionize the way we understand evolutionary processes. They have evidence that organisms actually have the ability to control their own evolution."
Transportation

Boston University Working On LED Wireless Networks 179

Madas writes "This article on Absolute Gadget details how researchers at Boston University's College of Engineering are working on devloping wireless networks that use LED lights instead of normal radio waves. This research apparently has other uses in the automobile industry. Apparently the LEDs could warn you if the driver in front has put the brakes on so could avoid hitting the car in front. Personally, I'd use the vision balls that are in my thought box."

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