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Comment Re:First PHP post (Score 1) 244

Because when push comes to shove, it's easy to write, easy to make poorly thought-out patches and bugfixes to, and easy to set up and run.

The main criticisms I hear of PHP are that it's "too easy" and lends itself to spaghetti code and security flaws.

Being too easy means the market is saturated with PHP developers and it can be difficult, especially for HR, to decide who is actually a good programmer, and who is not.

DRM

Submission + - Ebooks for libraries to self destruct? (nytimes.com)

fishdan writes: "The New York Times is reporting that HarperCollins Publishers announced last week that they would begin making the eBooks that they give to libraries expire after 26 readings (assuming a 2 weeks checkout period, that means one year of being loaned).

Simon & Schuster and Macmillan (among other publishers), do not sell eBooks to libraries at all because checking out ebooks from an online library in many cases is easier than buying a book online.

“We are working diligently to try to find terms that satisfy the needs of the libraries and protect the value of our intellectual property,” John Sargent, the chief executive of Macmillan, said in an e-mail. “When we determine those terms, we will sell e-books to libraries. At present we do not.”"

NASA

Scientists Give NASA Planetary Marching Orders 145

coondoggie writes "The community and team of scientists that help NASA prioritize space missions has come out with its exploration recommendations for the next decade: get to Mars, explore one of Jupiter's moons and study Uranus. From the report: 'The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn have been extensively studied by the Galileo and Cassini missions, respectively. But Uranus and Neptune represent a wholly distinct class of planet. While Jupiter and Saturn are made mostly of hydrogen, Uranus and Neptune have much smaller hydrogen envelopes. The bulk composition of these planets is dominated instead by heavier elements; oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur are the likely candidates. What little we know about the internal structure and composition of these "ice giant" planets comes from the brief flybys of Voyager 2. So the ice giants are one of the great remaining unknowns in the solar system: the only class of planet that has never been explored in detail.'"

Comment Re:X-Ray Detector T-Shirts? (Score 5, Interesting) 386

You know those WiFi-sensitive T-Shirts from ThinkGeek? Maybe it's time for something that responds to X-radiation...

New Clothing Line Reminds TSA of the 4th Amendment - http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/07/new-clothing-line-reminds-tsa-of-the-4th-amendment/

Not thrilled with the Transportation Security Administration's new touchy-feely pat down techniques and full-body scanners? Now there's a line of underclothes that offer a friendly reminder of the Fourth Amendment during controversial searches.

It's called 4th Amendment Wear.

Metallic ink printed on shirts spells out the privacy rights stated in the amendment and is designed to appear in TSA scanners.

Comment Re:Small government? (Score 1) 164

NH has two large airports (Manchester and Portsmouth [and several smaller ones]), a power plant (Seabrook), and is not likely to be attacked on it's on if it adopts a foreign policy of non-interventionism and free trade (you know, like America was INTENDED to) - in addition we see $0.71 worth of services for every dollar we ship to DC, 47th out of 50 in the country (source: Federal Spending Received Per Dollar of Taxes Paid by State, 2005 - http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/266.html) - we no longer need the federal government and would do better on our own.

Comment Doublethink (Score 5, Insightful) 614

"Winston sank his arms to his sides and slowly refilled his lungs with air. His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which canceled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them" - 1984

Media

US To Host World Press Freedom Day 614

rekrowyalp writes "From the press release: 'The United States is pleased to announce that it will host UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day event in 2011. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals' right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information.' Oh the irony."
Google

Google Wants To Take Away Your Capslock Key 968

heptapod writes "Slashdot reported earlier about Google's Chrome notebook and keen-eyed readers would have noticed the lack of a caps lock key. 'According to Google, this will improve the quality of the comments, because people will not be able to write all in capital letters. I'm not a fan of the caps lock key myself. I never use it, so it can go to hell, for all I'm concerned. But taking away choice from people is not good, especially when this is not going to improve the quality of comments.'"

Comment Re:Right to Privacy ? (Score 1) 728

There is *no* explicit right to privacy in the Constitution, or any other doctrine that the USA was founded on. There is a limitation on unreasonable search and seizure, but no explicit right to privacy.

The bill of rights provides only basic examples of your rights, anything not explicitly given to the 3 branches by the document is retained by the people and States; or at least this is how Madison intended for it to work. There was strong opposition to the inclusion of a Bill of Rights to the document for preciously this reason, that the people would interpret them as their only rights.

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