Comment Re:Pedantic, but... (Score 1) 324
Indeed. As in, Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton
Sharp Rise In Jailing of Online Journalists; Iran May Just Kill Them 233
bckspc writes "The Committee to Protect Journalists has published their annual census of journalists in prison. Of the 136 reporters in prison around the world on December 1, 'At least 68 bloggers, Web-based reporters, and online editors are imprisoned, constituting half of all journalists now in jail.' Print was next with 51 cases. Also, 'Freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed worldwide, a dramatic recent increase that reflects the evolution of the global news business.' China, Iran, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma were the top 5 jailers of journalists."
rmdstudio writes, too, with word that after the last few days' protest there, largely organized online, the government of Iran is considering the death penalty for bloggers and webmasters whose reports offend it.
Comment Ubuntu Community Docs are pretty good (Score 2, Informative) 769
I have found the Ubuntu Community Documentation to be pretty good for cookbook procedures. Their forums pick up the slack for acute issues.
Comment Think US$6 is right? Another way to calculate: (Score 2, Interesting) 339
A 1005HA with Windows 7 starter on Amazon.com: US$336. Same system with Windows XP Home: US$312. Difference: US$24. Subtract that from the US$50 estimate OEM price in the ars technica article and the remainder would be the price Asus is charging for XP home: US$26.
Comment Re:How can they tell... (Score 5, Insightful) 746
When heat enters a system temperature will not change until the phase change is complete. Once our icecaps have melted, temperature will start rising more dramatically.
Submission + - Fair-price refund for declining XP EULA no more
mark0 writes: Getting a fair-price refund from Amazon or Asus after declining the Windows XP EULA appears to be a thing of the past. In contrast to reports from the US and the UK from earlier in the year, Amazon simply refuses and provides information to contact Microsoft. Asus is offering US$6. Despite being confronted with publicly available information about the real OEM price of Windows XP Home Edition being $US25-US$30, Asus replies, "The refund price for the decline of the EULA is correct in it being US$6. This price unfortunately is not negotiable I do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please be assured that it is not ASUS intentions to steer you away in any which way."
Massachusetts Police Can't Place GPS On Autos Without Warrant 194
pickens writes "The EFF reports that the Supreme Court of Massachusetts has held in Commonwealth v. Connolly that police may not place GPS tracking devices on cars without first getting a warrant, reasoning that the installation of the GPS device was a seizure of the suspect's vehicle. Search and seizure is a legal procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems whereby police or other authorities and their agents, who suspect that a crime has been committed, do a search of a person's property and confiscate any relevant evidence to the crime. According to the decision, 'when an electronic surveillance device is installed in a motor vehicle, be it a beeper, radio transmitter, or GPS device, the government's control and use of the defendant's vehicle to track its movements interferes with the defendant's interest in the vehicle notwithstanding that he maintains possession of it.' Although the case only protects drivers in Massachusetts, another recent state court case, People v. Weaver in the State of New York, also held that because modern GPS devices are far more powerful than beepers, police must get a warrant to use the trackers, even on cars and people traveling the public roads."
Comment Typing is the new cursive (Score 1) 705
I never thought I'd be typing for a living. I thank a brief encounter with a VAX 11/780 for inspiring me to take a typing class in HS sophomore year. That said, Just require them to use a keyboard... no need to teach typing. They'll figure it out -- just ask their Xbox
IBM Scientists Build Computer Chips From DNA 97
snydeq writes "Scientists at IBM are experimenting with using DNA molecules as a way to create tiny circuits that could form the basis of smaller, more powerful computer chips. The technique builds on work done by Cal Tech's Paul Rothemund, who found that DNA molecules can be made to 'self-assemble' into tiny forms [PDF] such as triangles, squares and stars. 'To make a chip, the scientists first create lithographic templates using traditional chip making techniques. After, they pour a DNA solution over the surface of the silicon and the tiny triangles and squares — what the scientists call DNA origami — line themselves up to the patterns etched out using lithography.' DNA-based chips may sound like crackpot tech, but those involved believe the methodology could lead to a new way of fabricating features on the surface of chips that allows semiconductors to be made even smaller, faster and more power-efficient than they are today."
Submission + - TiVo announces DVR-SuperAdvance
mark0 writes: TiVo has announced the TiVo DVR-SuperAdvance. The PC World review says, 'Familiar TiVo interface; DVR can record not-yet-broadcast programming; potentially useful as a wagering aid,' though, '[it is] expensive; access to programming is limited; footage is displayed in standard definition only.'
Submission + - Fripp miffed over EMI download tactics (theinquirer.net)
Snifter writes: "When it comes to getting royalties to its "artists" a liitle inefficiency helps record comanies save a fortune. As composer of the Vista's "ittle blipping noises" Robert Fripp writes: "It's a little too rich to punish punters for illegal downloads of EMI copyright material when EMI are themselves guilty of copyright violation."
More on the STINQ, here."
Submission + - Unlimited gall to cost Verizon $1 million (networkworld.com)
netbuzz writes: Unlimited really means unlimited, even in advertising. So says the New York State Attorney General's Office in squeezing a $1 million settlement out of Verizon Wireless for disconnecting 13,000 of its customers who had the temerity to believe that the unlimited service they were promised came with unlimited service. Verizon's statement explaining the settlement is a gem, too.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/20981
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/20981
