Comment Connections (Score 1) 383
James Burke explains it all.
Also, Depending on their age. The western Tradition
Submission + - Microsoft Announces Open Halo (blogspot.com)
MrCopilot writes: "Microsoft thinks its high time some quality open source games are released noting a significant hole in the Linux Gaming market. "We see it as a great opportunity to introduce Linux users to Microsoft products."
http://mrcopilot.blogspot.com/2008/03/microsoft-announces-open-halo.html"
Bookmark Microsoft Announces Open Halo (blogspot.com)
Submission + - Phonautogram beats Edisons Phonogragh as first rec (blogspot.com) 3
MrCopilot writes: "You may remember an April Fools hoax a few years ago about audio captured on clay pottery that made its way around the net. Or you may remember the Mythbusters covering the possibility (Busted, If I remember correctly).
Leaving Edison as the first able to "record" audio for future playback. Well, not exactly. According to the NYTimes, that honor goes to a Frenchman named Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, who "recorded" a 10 second clip of "Au Clair de la Lune" on of all things, PAPER, almost 20 years before Edison and his tin foil and nearly 30 years before the wax cylinder.
The NYTimes article has even included the clip in MP3 format. Holy Digital Conversion http://mrcopilot.com/2008/03/ancient-audio-and-phonautograph.html"Scott's device had a barrel-shaped horn attached to a stylus, which etched sound waves onto sheets of paper blackened by smoke from an oil lamp. The recordings were not intended for listening; the idea of audio playback had not been conceived. Rather, Scott sought to create a paper record of human speech that could later be deciphered.
NYTimes
Bookmark Phonautogram beats Edisons Phonogragh as first recording. (blogspot.com)
Submission + - WikiLeaks Uncensored (blogspot.com)
MrCopilot writes: "Thanks in no small part to the efforts of The EFF and others, the honorable District Judge Jeffrey S. White has withdrew an earlier order blocking the wikileaks.org domain name resolution.
Yeah, censorship is hard. I feel for you. I mean, how are we supposed to hide tax evasion now. http://mrcopilot.blogspot.com/2008/02/wikileaks-uncensored.html"
"There are serious concerns that the court has, and serious questions raised, about the effectiveness of any order that this court might issue given the current state of affairs," Judge White said, lamenting the fact that constitutional law might not be able to keep up with technological change.
NYTimes
Yeah, censorship is hard. I feel for you. I mean, how are we supposed to hide tax evasion now. http://mrcopilot.blogspot.com/2008/02/wikileaks-uncensored.html"
Bookmark WikiLeaks Uncensored (blogspot.com)
Submission + - IBM ready to PowerUp Free MMO (blogspot.com)
MrCopilot writes: "IBM has launched a new Free 3D educational MMO to teach children about environmental science.
PowerUp has kids trying to save the planet Helios from ecological disasters alone or in groups.
If any one out there is listening, Planet Helios is being destroyed and we need your help!
Sadly no Linux or Mac Client. I'll get back to you on Wine support. http://mrcopilot.blogspot.com/2008/02/ibm-ready-to-powerup-free-mmo.html"
PowerUp has kids trying to save the planet Helios from ecological disasters alone or in groups.
If any one out there is listening, Planet Helios is being destroyed and we need your help!
Sadly no Linux or Mac Client. I'll get back to you on Wine support. http://mrcopilot.blogspot.com/2008/02/ibm-ready-to-powerup-free-mmo.html"
Submission + - WikiScanner Creator's Booksthatmakeyoudumb
An anonymous reader writes: Virgil Griffith (Caltech graduate student and creator of the WikiScanner) has produced a so-called Booksthatmakeyoudumb list by correlating Facebook's data on which books were most popular at listed colleges with data on each institution's average SAT/ACT scores. Near the bottom of the list were books by Zane, the Holy Bible, and 'Fahrenheit 451,' while at the other end of the list were 'Lolita,' 'Freakonomics,' 'Atlas Shrugged,' and 'Catch-22.' Virgil remarks, 'Yes, I'm aware correlation != causation. The results are hilarity incarnate regardless of causality.' He has also produced a similar list for Musicthatmakesyoudumb.
Feed Engadget: Motorola CEO Greg Brown takes personal control of phone division (engadget.com)
Filed under: Cellphones
The drama at Motorola just keeps coming -- apparently CEO Greg Brown has now taken direct personal control of the mobile phone division in an effort to turn it around. Of course, this move -- announced in an internal email leaked to Reuters -- comes in the wake of buyout rumors and Motorola's own admission that it might spin the handset unit off. We're not certain what steps Greg plans to take now that's he holding the reins, but we might know some people who might have some ideas.[Via RCR Wireless News]
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Submission + - Why Lessig is for Obama
LinuxOnEveryDesktop writes: Larry Lessig put up a very compelling 20-minute presentation on why Barak Obama is the best candidate out there for the presidency. In particular, he addresses what he and Hillary Clinton have in common — but more importantly where they differ, and why that really, really matters.
Feed Wired: Sci-Fi Dreams We Could Build if They Weren't So Damn Expensive (wired.com)
Submission + - State troopers order RIAA snoops to cease & de (blogspot.com)
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The RIAA's "investigator", MediaSentry, is now the subject of police attention in Massachusetts, where State Troopers have ordered MediaSentry to cease and desist from conducting investigations without a license, according to court papers filed in an RIAA case against Boston University students, Arista v. Does 1-21. This follows such recent attacks on the unlicensed investigator as the Oregon Attorney General's request for permission to investigate the unlicensed activity in Oregon, a White Plains, New York, motion to exclude MediaSentry's evidence for illegality, a Florida court's upholding the validity of a counterclaim based in part on the unlicensed investigations and the RIAA's "early settlement" of that case shortly thereafter, the RIAA's withdrawal of a Texas case after the grandmother defendant counterclaimed based upon unlicensed investigations, and the pursuit of a claim for unlicensed investigation in a class action, Andersen v. Atlantic."
Feed Wired: Will We One Day Be the Second Planet From the Sun? (wired.com)
Submission + - The Secret Death of Microsoft's Xbox 360 (roughlydrafted.com) 6
OMG writes: Throughout 2007, the media consistently reported leading sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360, dismal figures for Sony's struggling PlayStation 3, and celebrated the long shot Nintendo Wii as a possible contender in game consoles. This portrayal of the video game market in 2007 was grossly misleading, and NPD has the figures to demonstrate why. Microsoft's efforts to stuff the channel and strip the Xbox 360 of features to hit low price targets worked in the short term, but have since backfired, killing its HD-DVD format, leaving Xbox Live downloads an unattractive niche service with insignificant market share, preventing the Xbox from exercising any leverage to push the Zune, and allowing Microsoft's new console sales to plummet by over 33% year over year in 2007. On top of that, 7.7 million units — more than a year's supply — have gone unaccounted for, either put out of commission in as warranty lemons or sitting in warehouses. Despite all this, hardly anyone is saying a word about it, except for: Video Game Consoles 2007: Wii, PS3 and the Death of Microsoft's Xbox 360
