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Comment Check your sources? (Score 1) 174

Heck; off-the-shelf tech can see you through your walls.

If you actually read the article you linked, you could find out that it's custom made hardware made from components which may be used in a wi-fi device, that's not the same as off-the-shelf.
FTFA:

"All the components we use are ones typically used in a Wi-Fi handheld device," she said.

Wi-Vi transmits two Wi-Fi signals, one of which is the inverse of the other.

Off-the-shelf stuff can't do this, but with components similar to that you can.

Comment Re:Seems like a terrible design (Score 1) 155

Let's work the numbers:

The screen is 13.3 WXGA, and the size is about 286mm x 179mm, and the panels appear to be the same size, and I can spot three.
Assuming a solar radiation of 1300 W per sqare meter and 15% solar panel efficiency, we arrive at a guesstimate of:
286mm * 179mm * 3 panels * 1300 W / square meter * 15% efficiency 30 W.

Looking at their website, it has a Intel Atom D2500 cpu which has a stated max TDP of 10 W, the hard drive could use 2-4 W (guesstimate), and the backlight could use from 1 to 10 watt (guesstimate), leaving still some power to charge the battery.

Now, back to the battery, assuming we get 90% efficiency when charging at 30W at 2 hours gives 54Wh.

Now, using this guesstimate of 13-24W should give from 4 to 9 hours use assuming the CPU is working at max TDP all the time.

To summarize, 2 hours solar charge in ideal conditions and (generously) assuming high quality solar cells (and a lot of other things) could give from 4 to 9 hours laptop use, possibly more.

Comment Mildly annoying (Score 2) 359

I have a touch screen laptop which appears like a normal laptop, so people don't know it's touch at first glance, and I usually forget to warn them. This leads to mildly annoying situations when I'm using it with someone. Someone: Hey, what's this? (touches screen) Hey, what happened? Me: You clicked on it. Now I either have to just click back in the browser, or rectify whatever they clicked on. Of course my screen is smudgy, but it seems a lot of people instinctively want to touch screens, so they are going to be smudgy anyways.
Programming

Ask Slashdot: Value of Website Design Tools vs. Hand Coding? 342

An anonymous reader writes "I am pretty computer literate, and have a son who is extremely computer savvy. He taught himself C#, Javascript, built his own desktop with his Christmas and birthday money two years ago and is an avid reader of stackoverflow, reddit and many forums. He recently was asked to design a website for an architect, and likes to code by hand using Notepad++ and the Chrome developer tools. He uses CSS and Javascript libraries, but is convinced that all visual editors (Dreamweaver, Expression Web and so on) are only for extreme beginners and create non responsive, non compliant sites. I argue with him that while handcoding abilities are essential and great there is a value in knowing and using WYSIWYG editors. We agreed that having slashdot weigh in would be useful — comments appreciated on either the approach or good tools he can and should use."

Comment Some are willing to take a pay cut to switch jobs (Score 2) 374

Around three months ago i found myself in a job that i hated - I spent 5 out of 10 weeks on the other side of the world, the pay was good, but not good enough to justify the frustration the job involved. I decided to leave, and my new job paid roughly ~30% less than my old one, and ever since i started i haven't regretted it for a second. In fact, i am currently on the clock, sitting in my couch at home, while my toddler son is playing with a SATA cable that belongs to him. I voted 50% pay increase, as that's what's closest to the 100% pay increase it'd cost my old employer for me to go back to them.

Open Source

What Do I Do About My Ex-Employer Stealing My Free Code? 545

An anonymous reader writes "I recently found out that the company I used to work for is removing all the open source licenses (GPL and MIT) from my work, distributing it as proprietary software and taking all the credit despite the fact that they contributed nothing to it. They are even renaming it something really silly. What should I do?"
DRM

Ubisoft Brings Back Always-Connected DRM For Driver: San Francisco 261

Last year Ubisoft introduced DRM for their PC games that required a constant internet connection, going so far as to terminate single-player games if the connection was interrupted. After facing outrage, boycotts, and DDoS attacks, Ubisoft seemed to have softened their stance, issuing a patch for two games that allowed offline play. Unfortunately, it seems the change wasn't permanent; Ubisoft's upcoming racing game Driver: San Francisco marks the return of the contentious DRM.
Businesses

Study: 5% of Mobile Gamers Willing To Spend $50+ 54

derGoldstein tips a story at AllThingsD about a study into mobile gamers' spending habits: "[The study] provides a fairly compelling argument as to why a developer should continue to give away his or her games for free ... After evaluating the spending habits of 3.5 million consumers across both iOS and Android, Flurry found that among those who pay for in-app transactions, greater than five percent will spend more than $50, which rivals the amount paid at retail for top console and PC games."
Science

How Do You Keep Up With Science Developments? 337

malraid writes "As a nerd who used to love science back in high school (specially physics), I now find myself completely disconnected from any and all scientific developments and news. How do you try to stay up to date with scientific developments? Science journals? Whatever makes it into Slashdot's front page? Books? Magazines? I'm looking for something engaging and informative, for not something that will require me to go and get a PhD just to be able to comprehend."
The Internet

Better Copyright Through Fair Use and Ponies 169

Balinares writes "With even harmless parody sites like Peanutweeter now getting shut down by twitchy lawyers in the name of brand dilution concerns, the situation with fair use has become bleak. Yet some companies are learning at last. Variery reports that when parodies of their latest production started popping up online, Hasbro not only allowed it to happen, but started contributing some of their own. Now their My Little Pony reboot has gained a huge following and reached cult status. Fair use does make everything better. That, or it's the ponies."

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