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Comment Mod Parent Up! (Score 1) 220

by Kuukai (#38003018) Attached to: A Cognitive Teardown of Angry Birds
This. It's just an accessible, well-known game you can kill time/trance out with. People are freaking out about it being some kind of amazing formula to make millions but really it's just what Windows Solitaire has been for so many years. This time someone was able to monetize it, but at this point that lesson isn't useful until the next big platform shift, and even then you'll probably be headed off at the pass by Angry Birds' momentum.
Google

Google Launches Google+ Social Network 368

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the building-another-walled-garden dept.
Randyll writes "Today, Google announced its decisive entry into the world of social networks by introducing Google+, a social network tied around Google services. Its aim is to be different from other networks with emphasis on privacy and a different kind of social networking. Instead of connecting with your friends, Google+ aims to center connections around specific groups—colleagues, projects, or groups of friends—with the ability to use high-quality video chats and a unique and rich web-based user experience. It is currently in beta with opt-in invites." Several other readers submitted speculation about another mysterious new Google service as well.

Comment Connectors (Score 1) 482

by Kuukai (#36544592) Attached to: There Oughta Be a Standard: Laptop Power Supplies

If there's one thing I wish for all laptop power supplies, it's that they would license from Apple (or work around, patent-wise) the magnet attachment system that makes cable--tripping far less dangerous to man or beast, compared to a few years ago.

Also just wear and tear on the connector. I've seen laptops become unusable just because the power socket is stupidly designed and ends up getting loose. Even some sort of less-patented snap design or something would be better. Van der Waals force, I dunno. Hell, even just something that isn't a cylinder that goes over a small bendable pin, maybe something totally solid like the Apple one only it goes in further, that would be nice...
Games

Submission + - The Nintendo Wii U revealed (gizmag.com)

Submitted by TimHanlon
TimHanlon writes: Nintendo took the wraps off its new Wii U console at E3 today, sporting a controller with a 6.2" touchscreen, PS3-caliber graphics, the ability to play without a TV, a launch lineup with plenty of hardcore games, and a release some time in 2012.
Education

Submission + - linux is not a crime

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A colleague of mine submitted a personal laptop (macbook) to IT of a department of a major university in the University of California to be checked prior to access being granted to the network. The response was:
"Hi,
I am currently setting up your laptop for xxxxxxxxx department. I noticed you have Ubuntu and Windows running on Virtual Box. We cannot have linux computers on the network , and cannot have any copies of Windows running that aren't joined to the xxxxxxxxx Network. Also, there is Bittorrent software on the computer which isn't allowed.
I can remote the bittorrent and the Virtual machiens and then the computer will be able to be added. Would you like me to do this? Any files or programs that you have installed on them will be lost.
Thanks,
xxxxxxxxx"

I am surprised at the policy against linux, especially given the amount of research that gets done in the University of California using linux and other open source projects. Is this a trend? Do they have a basis for security concerns regarding linux?
The other sad thing is the banning of bittorrent, which is simply a file-downloading program.
Government

Submission + - Internet Access is a Human Right, UN Report Says (discovermagazine.com)

Submitted by purkinje
purkinje writes: Disconnecting people from the internet is a violation of human rights and is against international law, says a UN report released yesterday. The report comes just after several governments in the Middle East restricted internet access during unrest there, and a year after France and the UK passed three-strikes laws to disconnect users illegally sharing files. People have a right to both dimensions of internet access, the report says: unfettered access to content and the technology and infrastructure needed to get online in the first place.

Submission + - Most Websites Exclude 'Home' from Navi (promediacorp.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Mechanical Turks were asked to visit the Alexa top 500 and report back whether there was a home button in the site's navigation. Study found that 63% of sites do not contain a link to the homepage in the nav bar.
DRM

Submission + - DRM is counterproductive (techrepublic.com)

Submitted by dwreid
dwreid writes: It's interesting to see a mainstream technical site such as TechRepublic call out that DRM provides no benefit but does increase costs and punish legitimate customers.

Submission + - The War On Photography: Legal Analysis (ssrn.com)

Submitted by YIAAL
YIAAL writes: We've seen increasing numbers of stories about photographers facing arrest or assault by police and security officers simply for taking pictures — often pictures of law enforcement misconduct. Although photographers have a legal right to take pictures in pretty much any public place, this article by Morgan Manning concludes that the legal remedies for violations of that right are inadequate and often entirely unworkable. Is law-enforcement education the solution, or do we need new civil rights laws — maybe with attorney fees and heavy damages — to protect photographers from being hassled?
Nintendo

Submission + - Nintendo Announces New Console: Wii U (reuters.com)

Submitted by _xeno_
_xeno_ writes: Nintendo has announced the official name for what had been known as "Project Cafe:" the Wii U. It is an HD console, it remains backwards compatibility with the Wii (it's unclear if this includes GameCube software), and the controller does, in fact, have a touch screen on it. Nintendo demoed moving a game off the TV and play it solely on the Wii U controller.

Comment Website reads like an infomercial (Score 1) 172

by Kuukai (#36362804) Attached to: Man Creates Open Source Flashlight
For just one low payment of $35 (Canadians add $10 S&H) you can get this SPECIAL flashlight (retail value 54.95!!) that can, uh... "run up and down mathematical equations". If you program a chip. Which you could probably do with any flashlight if you know how to do that. I kinda feel bad for all the exploited nerds funding this...

Oblig. Penny Arcade on Kickstarter

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