thomas.craig - Slashdot User

China's Nine-Day Traffic Jam Tops 62 Miles 198

Posted by samzenpus on Monday August 23, 2010 @12:08PM from the living-on-the-road dept.

A traffic jam on the Beijing-Tibet expressway has now entered its ninth day and has grown to over 62 miles in length. This mother-of-all delays has even spawned its own micro-economy of local merchants selling water and food at inflated prices to stranded drivers. Can you imagine how infuriating it must be to see someone leave their blinker on for 9 days?

Geek Squad Sends Cease-and-Desist Letter To God Squad 357

Posted by samzenpus on Monday August 16, 2010 @10:16AM from the who-would-jesus-sue dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A Wisconsin priest has God on his car but Best Buy's lawyers on his back. Father Luke Strand at the Holy Family Parish in Fond Du Lac says he has received a cease-and-desist letter from the electronics retailer. From the article: 'At issue is Strand's black Volkswagen Beetle with door stickers bearing the name "God Squad" in a logo similar to that of Best Buy's Geek Squad, a group of electronics troubleshooters. Strand told the Fond du Lac Reporter that the car is a creative way to spur discussion and bring his faith to others. Best Buy Co. tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it appreciates what Strand is trying to do, but it's bad precedent to let groups violate its trademarks.'"

The Fuel Cost of Obesity 285

Posted by samzenpus on Friday August 13, 2010 @01:36PM from the 20-miles-per-cheeseburger dept.

thecarchik writes "America loves to complain about gas mileage and the cost of gasoline. As it turns out, part of the problem is us. How much does it really matter? A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 1.1 percent increase in self-reported obesity, which translates into extra weight that your vehicle has to haul around. The study estimates that 1 billion extra gallons of fuel were needed to compensate for passenger weight gained between 1960 and 2002."

Woman Jailed For Starting Office Fire To Leave Work Early 136

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 23, 2010 @11:42AM from the take-this-job-and-spark-it dept.

A Florida woman was sentenced to nine months in jail, followed by five years of probation, for starting an office fire so she could get out of work early. From the article: "Pasco sheriff's investigators said Michelle Perrino, 40, started a fire at Bayonet Point Oxygen on May 12, 2009. Perrino drew suspicion when she mentioned the fire's origin — a filing cabinet — during an employee meeting. Employees had not been told where the fire started." I hope she had the good sense to start the fire on Friday so she could have a long weekend.

Comment Re:Seems reasonable (Score 1) 949

by thomas.craig on Thursday May 20, 2010 @09:37AM (#32278118) Attached to: Pakistan Court Orders Facebook Ban Over Mohammed Images

Can't you see its offending 1.6 billion people, yet you go ahead and do it.

Precise numbers are hard to come by, but, for example, adherants.com gives..

2.1 billion Christians

1.6 billion Muslims

1.1 Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist

Can't you see it's offending 1.1 billion people, yet you go ahead and do it.

Hand Written Clock 86

Posted by samzenpus on Monday December 14, 2009 @02:11PM from the up-to-the-minute dept.

a3buster writes "This clock does not actually have a man inside, but a flatscreen that plays a 24-hour loop of this video by the artist watching his own clock somewhere and painstakingly erasing and re-writing each minute. This video was taken at Design Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach 2009."

Copyright and the Games Industry 94

Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 04, 2009 @03:51AM from the your-super-mario-toilet-paper-is-probably-illegal dept.

A recent post at the Press Start To Drink blog examined the relationship the games industry has with copyright laws. More so than in some other creative industries, the reactions of game companies to derivative works are widely varied and often unpredictable, ranging anywhere from active support to situations like the Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes debacle. Quoting: "... even within the gaming industry, there is a tension between IP holders and fan producers/poachers. Some companies, such as Epic and Square Enix, remain incredibly protective of their Intellectual Property, threatening those that use their creations, even for non-profit, cultural reasons, with legal suits. Other companies, like Valve, seem to, if not embrace, at least tolerate, and perhaps even tacitly encourage this kind of fan engagement with their work. Lessig suggests, 'The opportunity to create and transform becomes weakened in a world in which creation requires permission and creativity must check with a lawyer.' Indeed, the more developers and publishers that take up Valve's position, the more creativity and innovation will emerge out of video game fan communities, already known for their intense fandom and desire to add to, alter, and re-imagine their favorite gaming universes."

Modded Xbox Bans Prompt EFF Warning About Terms of Service 254

Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 04, 2009 @01:19AM from the by-reading-this-you-bequeath-me-all-your-possessions dept.

Last month we discussed news that Microsoft had banned hundreds of thousands of Xbox users for using modified consoles. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has now pointed to this round of bans as a prime example of the power given to providers of online services through 'Terms of Service' and other usage agreements. "No matter how much we rely on them to get on with our everyday lives, access to online services — like email, social networking sites, and (wait for it) online gaming — can never be guaranteed. ... he who writes the TOS makes the rules, and when it comes to enforcing them, the service provider often behaves as though it is also the judge, jury and executioner. ... While the mass ban provides a useful illustration of their danger, these terms can be found in nearly all TOS agreements for all kinds of services. There have been virtually no legal challenges to these kinds of arbitrary termination clauses, but we imagine this will be a growth area for lawyers."

Indiana Bans Driver's License Smiles, For Security 459

Posted by timothy on Tuesday December 09, 2008 @09:57AM from the one-doozy-of-an-aha!-moment dept.

Smelly Jeffrey writes "According to a recent article, Indiana BMV Communications Director Dennis Rosebrough states that applicants for a new or renewed operator's license or state identification card will no longer be allowed to smile and say cheese. Apparently new facial recognition software being employed by the state fails to function when the face is distorted by something as innocuous as smiling. Also on the list of taboos are hats, eyeglasses, and hair that hangs down over the face. The article fails to mention, however, the legality of beards, mustaches, and bushy eyebrows." Similar restrictions are in place for the Enhanced Driver License (which serves as a sort of limited passport) implemented by the state of Washington, among others.

Comment Re:Guess I'll have to cancel the trip... (Score 1) 553

by thomas.craig on Tuesday July 29, 2008 @07:20PM (#24393653) Attached to: Sen. Ted "Tubes" Stevens Is Indicted

Which describes almost every "red" state in the Union.

Citation needed. Badly.

Okay, here's a link to a special report by the Tax Foundation (a very conservative anti-tax organization, btw). Line up the states by the ratio of federal spending to taxes paid. The highest ratios? New Mexico, Alaska, Mississippi, Alabama, the Dakotas, Virginia, West Virginia, Montana, Idaho. The lowest ratios? New York, California, Minnesota, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Mass. The correlation isn't perfect (e.g. Texas is receives slightly less in federal expenditures than it pays in taxes, and obviously, it's pretty durned red. Iowa is the reverse), but it's pretty strong. A little googling will reveal a number of additional citations.

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