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Businesses

Tech Companies That Won't Survive 2009 385

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the in-a-blaze-of-glory dept.
buzzardsbay writes "Fresh off their annual market survey, eWEEK channel folks have compiled the list of tech vendors their readers think will fail, falter, or be sold off in 2009. It's important to note that these aren't the opinions of the magazine or its editors. The list comes from folks who work in IT, mostly technology resellers, who are out in the field selling, installing and maintaining this stuff. If there were ever canaries in the tech coal mine, they'd be these service and solution providers who live and die by the slightest shift in the markets. Some of the companies on this list, like Sun and AMD, are shocking because of their size. Others, like CA and Symantec, not so surprising." What other companies are headed for implosion, or should be if all were right with the universe?

Comment Re:I can see it now... (Score 1) 267

by OrangeCowHide (#26364661) Attached to: Google Router Rumors
Surely you mean...

Z:\>ping 192.168.1.20

Find out About 192.168.1.20
Get the best results on 192.168.1.20
at Amazon.com
www.amazon.com

Great Prices on 192.168.1.20
Low prices on 192.168.1.20 at eBay
www.ebay.com

PING 192.168.1.20 64 bytes of data:
...
IBM

Campaign to Open Source IBM's Notes/Domino 255

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the if-you-can't-sell-it-use-it-for-free-advertising dept.
Ian Tree, an IT consultant from the Netherlands, has started a campaign to convince IBM to open source the code for Notes/Domino. Hoping for results similar to the push for Sun to open source Solaris, which finally saw success in 2005, Tree makes the simple point that it won't happen until someone asks. "By being an open source product, Tree is also hoping that Domino becomes something schools use to teach groupware and application development concepts, which is the holy grail for future market adoption. This is how various Unixes, relational databases, Linux, and a raft of other products eventually became commercialized. While the idea of open sourcing any proprietary program is appealing, in as much as it sets a program free to live beyond the commitment (or lack thereof) of its originator, it is hard to see why open Notes/Domino would have any more impact than OpenSolaris."
Government

Indian GPS Cartographers Charged As Terrorists 269

Posted by timothy from the well-lookie-here dept.
chrb writes "Following on from the discussion about Apple disabling GPS in Egyptian iPhones, we have a new case of the conflict between the traditional secrecy of government, and the widening availability of cheap, accurate GPS devices around the world. On 5th December, two software engineers employed by Biond Software in India were arrested for mapping highways using vehicle based GPS devices. Further evidence against the pair emerged when it was found that a laptop they had been using in the car contained some photos of the local airforce base. The company claims they had been commissioned by Nokia Navigator to create maps of local roads and terrain. Following an investigation by the Anti Terrorist Squad of Gujarat the cartographers have now been charged with violating the Official Secrets Act and will remain in custody."
Earth

Acorns Disappear Across the Country 474

Posted by kdawson from the curiouser-and-curiouser dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Botanist Rod Simmons thought he was going crazy when couldn't find any acorns near his home in Arlington County, Virginia. 'I'm used to seeing so many acorns around and out in the field, it's something I just didn't believe,' said Simmons. Then calls started coming in about crazy squirrels. Starving, skinny squirrels eating garbage, inhaling bird feed, greedily demolishing pumpkins. Squirrels boldly scampering into the road. And a lot more calls about squirrel roadkill. Simmons and Naturalist Greg Zell began to do some research and found Internet discussion groups, including one on Topix called 'No acorns this year,' reporting the same thing from as far away as the Midwest up through New England and Nova Scotia. 'We live in Glenwood Landing, N.Y., and don't have any acorns this year. Really weird,' wrote one. 'None in Kansas either! Curiouser and curiouser.' The absence of acorns could have something to do with the weather and Simmons has a theory about the wet and dry cycles. But many skeptics say oaks in other regions are producing plenty of acorns, and the acorn bust is nothing more than the extreme of a natural boom-and-bust cycle. But the bottom line is that no one really knows. 'It's sort of a mystery,' Zell said."

Comment Re:Overreaching (Score 4, Insightful) 317

by OrangeCowHide (#25847071) Attached to: Lori Drew Cyber-Bullying Trial Begins

I have been reading about this case for some time. So far the known points are Lori Drew may have been aware that her assistant (Grills) and daughter were putting together a fake MySpace account to "befriend" one Megan Meier. The assistant and daughter exchanged messaged with the Meir girl pretending to be a boy from Florida who was interested in her. After something upset the real life relationship with the Drew daughter and the Meier girl, the daughter and Grills started using the fake MySpace account to send mean-spirited messages to Megan. Culminating in Grills sending a message telling Megan the world would be better off without her.

You may not have noticed, but the only involvement ever mentioned in connection with Lori Drew is that she may have been aware the account was created. She did not herself create the account. She did not herself send messages to Megan Meier. She did not tell Meier to kill herself.

How does this qualify as "Grade-A Sociopath"? I don't see that anything she did qualifies as wrong, let alone immoral, or illegal.

But Dammit! we need vengeance, and we already gave immunity to Grills if she agreed to testify, so...

Comment Re:Overreaching (Score 1) 317

by OrangeCowHide (#25847909) Attached to: Lori Drew Cyber-Bullying Trial Begins

No. I was actually kind of hoping someone could contradict me. I mean I see a lot of "We know everything this woman did was reprehensible" from blog sites like this, and when I read about it in the Post-Dispatch way back when, then certainly played it off as Drew was directly responsible for the account, and was sending the messages. They later backed off that and started pointing out that Drew created the account, which was backed off to it was a collaboration. Then Grills assistant started popping into the reports.

Basically, the only credible information I have is the linked articles, the St. Louis Post Dispatch articles, and NPR radio. All of which imply that Drew is a horrible person and directly responsible, but none of which has ever even stepped out on a limb to say Drew was directly involved in anything except maybe creating the account.

I just want someone to show me if we're going to burn the witch, do we have more reasonable proof than if she weighs the same as a duck?

The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Circuit City is Bankrupt (youtube.com) 2

Submitted by
twitter
twitter writes: "Layoffs the other week were not enough to keep Circuit City from going bankrupt today.

Circuit City Stores Inc, the No. 2 U.S. consumer electronics retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday ... victim to tighter credit terms from vendors and a loss of market share to Best Buy Co, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other rivals.

Circuit City had lost money in five of the last six quarters. In recent weeks, suppliers pinched by the global credit crunch have tightened terms, sometimes requiring up-front payments before shipping goods.

... a flood of discounted merchandise from liquidating Circuit City stores could hurt Best Buy during this holiday shopping season, said Jefferies & Co analyst Dan Binder.

You know electronics vendors are in trouble when you can pick up a really nice, albeit Vista encumbered, laptop for $500. So goes the rest of the M$ retail chain."
PC Games (Games)

99.8% of Gamers Don't Care About DRM, Says EA 554

Posted by CmdrTaco from the they-also-don't-understand-it dept.
arcticstoat writes "If you thought that EA might have been humbled by the massive Internet backlash against its use of SecuROM in its recent games, then you'd be wrong. Speaking at the Dow Jones/Nielsen Media and Money Conference, EA's CEO John Riccitiello claimed that the whole issue had been blown out of all proportion. 'We implemented a form of DRM and it's something that 99.8 per cent of users wouldn't notice,' claimed Riccitiello, 'but for the other 0.2 percent, it became an issue and a number of them launched a cabal online to protest against it.'"
Businesses

Submission + - Getting hired with a criminal record.

Submitted by 24601
24601 writes: Hello fellow Slashdot nerds. This is a very hard question to ask, but I figured you guys would probably have the best advice. I am finding myself in my young, soon to be post college career with a brand new criminal record. To make matter's worse, it's for a sex crime (was mislead by someone about their age. Nothing violent or involving children). Yes I will have to register, be on probation for quite a while, and currently reside in a certain very conservative state in the south famous for a certain cartoon mouse. I completely accept the stupidity of what I have done and very much want to grow and move on past it. I'm a graphical artist by trade, but with a lot of web design experience as well. Also have a good deal of IT experience, was thinking of getting a certification in something. What I want to know, however, is how hard is it to get a job in the tech industry with this kind of Scarlet Letter? I have every intention of being upfront and honest about my past with any potential employer, and making every effort to communicate my regret for my past, the fact that I'm not a threat to anyone, and my desire to prove myself. Are more technical employers willing to look past such things and give you a chance? Is there any advice people can give me on properly presenting this issue, and finding understanding employers? thanks!
United States

Submission + - MA Treasurer Arrested for 3 Peaches at Airport 2

Submitted by boot1780
boot1780 writes: The treasurer for the state of Massachusetts announced that he and his family arrested by US Customs officials and "treated like criminals" on their way back from Italy due to three peaches in his daughter's carry-on bag. "It felt like we were being interrogated and found guilty without any process, no explanation, no rundown of our rights," he said. He was told he had to pay a $300 fine or spend a night and jail, but wasn't told that paying the fine waived any right he had to an appeal. Well, they nabbed the girl with the three peaches. Any word on Osama yet?
Media

Submission + - "Viacom hit me for infringing my own copyright (blogspot.com) 2

Submitted by
Chris Knight
Chris Knight writes: "Long story short: I ran for school board where I live this past fall and created some TV commercials including this one with a "Star Wars" theme. A few months ago VH1 grabbed the commercial from YouTube and featured it in a segment of its show "Web Junk 2.0". Neither VH1 or its parent company Viacom told me they were doing this or asked my permission to use it, but I didn't mind it if they did. It was great to see the commercial was being enjoyed by a far wider audience than I'd expected. I was honored that they chose to use it and thought that Aries Spears's commentary about it was pretty hilarious, so I posted a clip of VH1's segment on YouTube so that I could put it on my blog. This morning I got an e-mail from YouTube saying that the video has been pulled because Viacom is claiming that I'm violating its copyright. Viacom used my video without permission on their commercial television show, and now says that I am infringing on THEIR copyright for showing the clip of the work that Viacom made in violation of my own copyright! Talk about chutzpah! Needless to say, I would like to fight this: not for any kind of monetary compensation, but just for the right to employ my own self-created material per Fair Use."
Nintendo

Submission + - Wii Becomes Leading Console

Submitted by Bender0x7D1
Bender0x7D1 writes: According to VG Chartz, total worldwide sales of the Nintendo Wii have surpassed those of of the XBox 360. It has been a long time since Nintendo held the lead in console sales and Sony, the sales leader of the previous generation, is lagging far behind in this current generation. The question is: Does the Wii have the staying power to keep outselling the competition, or will upcoming games like Halo 3 and GTA IV give the advantage to Microsoft and Sony?
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - iPhone unlocked from AT&T network by NJ hacker (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "Everyone needs a hobby I guess. A New Jersey teenager said today he has hacked the lock that ties Apple's iPhone to AT&T's wireless network, a move that now lets him use it on T- Mobiles network. Experts say T-Mobile is the only other U.S. carrier compatible with the iPhone's cellular technology. George Hotz, 17, posted the hack on his blog, said the unlocking procedure is complicated and requires skill with both soldering and software and takes about two hours to perform. Hotz said: "So if you follow these steps, you should have an unlocked iPhone. I'm sorry about how hard they are to follow, but someone will get them to work, and simplify them, and simplify them more. Hopefully a software unlock will be found in the near future." http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18731"

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