Comment Too late (Score 2) 241
They could save themselves a lot of work and just get Dwarf Fortress...
Comment Re:I guess I should prepare for extinction then (Score 1) 422
Until the GPS reception on a smartphone is at least semi-reliable, I don't think there's anything to worry about. My blackberry can't always find a satellite in an open field on a clear day, much less in a car on a cloudy day while moving.
My little garmin on the other hand, has only lost reception once that I can remember in the year or two that I've had it. It even gets reception in the middle of nowhere underwater in the rain.
Comment A few (Score 1) 1055
Eclipse, SQL Developer, Notepad++, Aptana Studio and Visual Studio Express C++/C#.
Comment Re:Oo, oo, oo! I know! (Score 1) 314
But by that logic, wouldn't it make more business sense to hire a couple of older programmers to maintain a system that works than a bunch of newbies to rewrite it?
Old programmers won't be around forever, newbies will.
Comment Re:My worry (Score 1) 900
This will be buried I'm sure, but Blu-Ray players ALREADY require an internet connection!
My ps3 doesn't...
Phantom Hourglass Review 89
Of all the titles in the Legend of Zelda series, some of the most-respected have been for handheld consoles. Link's Awakening, the Oracle duo, and Minish Cap all manage to combine on-the-road gaming with a certain purity of Zelda-ness. Link's most recent adventure on the small screen, Phantom Hourglass, generally continues this tradition and introduces a number of new elements to the property. Unique controls, a true sequel, and cel-shaded graphics all make Hourglass stand out from 'traditional' Zelda games, and together the whole hangs together fairly well. Read on for my impressions of this pint-sized return to Hyrule.
New Microscope Watches Cells in 3D 50
Jamie found a story about a new 3D Microscope which creates 3D videos of cells in action. Traditionally scientists have had to choose between high resolution and animation, so no doubt this device will cure the common cold.
Submission + - Compiz Fusion drops first development release (compiz-fusion.org)
ketilwaa writes: "After a long time reorganizing, the folks at "old Compiz" and "old Beryl" pushes out the first development release of the new Compiz Fusion. The first stable version will be out shortly after Compiz 0.6 is released. All is revealed on the FusionComm mailing list"
Submission + - Top 10 Wackiest Conspiracy Theories
An anonymous reader writes: Dinosauroid-like Alien Reptiles are dominating the World, Apollo 11 Moon Landings were faked by NASA, September 11 was orchestrated by the U. S. government, Barcodes are really intended to Control people, Microsoft sends messages on Wingdings Font, U.S. military caused the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, The Nazis had a Moon Base, Kentucky Fried Chicken makes black men impotent? All these "facts" explored...
Submission + - New water-cooled hard drives coming (arstechnica.com)
CoolHandLuke writes: NEC and Hitachi are teaming up on a liquid cooling system for hard drives. The goal is to cut down on noise levels while providing more efficient cooling. 'Hitachi and NEC are developing the water-cooled hard drive systems for desktop computers mainly to reduce noise levels to 25 decibels, 5 decibels quieter than a whisper. To do this, NEC and Hitachi actually wrap the hard drive in "noise absorbing material and vibration insulation." According to Hitachi and NEC, the cooling cold plate they're planning to use is the most efficient plate ever used for heat conduction, which means they'll be able to cool the hard drives quicker and more efficiently.'
Submission + - US playing Russian roulette with broadband (arstechnica.com)
LarryBoy writes: In a speech given at the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps lambasted US broadband policy, saying that the US is 'playing "Russian roulette with broadband and Internet and more traditional media."' Copps also took issue with an op-ed piece ('Broadband Baloney') by fellow commissioner Robert McDowell last week. 'In his speech, Copps didn't mention McDowell by name, but he did claim that broadband in the US is "so poor that every citizen in the country ought to be outraged." Back when then OECD said that we were number four in the world, he said, no one objected to its methodology. Copps also had fighting words for those who blame the US broadband problems on our less-dense population; Canada, Norway, and Sweden are ranked above us, but all are less dense than the US. Besides, this argument implies that broadband is absolutely super within American urban areas. Copps noted, though, that his own broadband connection in Washington, DC was "nothing compared to Seoul."'
Submission + - Online Computer Training
An anonymous reader writes: Are any of the online computer training classes any good? Are there any that would virtually guarantee you a good job or a pay increase that more than pays for the class?
Submission + - RIAA to Force Universities to Spy on Students with (digitalfreedom.org)
Charles Martin writes: ""Big Brother Amendment" Requires Student Monitoring and Annual Reports
RIAA to Force Universities to Spy on Students with Public Funds
WASHINGTON -Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's planned introduction of an amendment to the Higher Education Reauthorization Act in the United States Senate is a disturbing misallocation of efforts and taxpayer funds according to the Digital Freedom Campaign. The amendment, which will reportedly be offered by Majority Leader Reid during debate of S. 1642, would force Universities to adopt a policy and reporting procedure relating to, what the bill refers to as, "illegal downloading and distribution of copyrighted material," and require the Secretary of Education annually report to Congress which 25 Universities have received the most infringement notices from copyright owners.
"This amendment is the just latest in a series of legislative efforts by wealthy record labels to require our tax dollars to be spent on policing college students," Jennifer Stoltz, a spokesperson for the Digital Freedom Campaign said. "No one supports illegal downloading or file sharing, but the Digital Freedom Campaign and its members believe that Universities have more urgent things to do with their scarce budgets than collect information on their students for the government and for the RIAA. Academic resources would be better spent educating students rather than spying on them at the behest of large corporations."
Earlier this year, the Digital Freedom Campaign launched 'Digital Freedom University,' aimed at promoting the freedom of students to participate fully in the digital revolution. The initiative seeks to expand the ability of student leaders and campus-based artists and innovators to make their voice heard in Washington, D.C., as the rights to acquire and use content in the digital age is debated. The Digital Freedom University chapters provide a base for students to help them better understand their "fair use" rights in the digital age, rights that protect their ability to listen to legally purchased content as they choose. The Campaign, which is strongly opposed to illegal downloads and piracy, views students as an important cutting-edge audience that must be educated-not threatened.
The Digital Freedom Campaign fights for consumer rights in a digital age that enables literally anyone and everyone to be a creator, an innovator or an artist- to produce music, to create cutting-edge videos and photos, and to share their creative work. Digital technology empowers individuals to enjoy these new works when, where, and how they want, and to participate in the artistic process. These are basic freedoms that must be protected and nurtured. The Digital Freedom campaign is dedicated to defending the rights of students, artists, innovators, and consumers to create and make lawful use of new technologies and lawfully acquired content free of unreasonable government restrictions and without fear of costly and abusive lawsuits."
Submission + - Real-Life Ninja vs Pirate War (freedom4um.com)
ninjas_vs_pirates writes: Although it sounds like a bad Hollywood plot, there appears to be a major war imminent between a giant Chinese ninja army and their sworn enemies including the Skull & Bones pirate society. The ninjas claim they will target the "eye at the top of the pyramid". If true, this could be a world-changing struggle! Who's side are you on: Ninjas, or Pirates???
Submission + - Internet users may be ruining our culture (walterburek.info)
walter42b writes: "Stop the Monkeys!
A recurring rant on my blog is my huffing about the "dumbing down of America" — a downward spiral in our culture caused by an educational system that graduates students who can't solve simple math problems, can't write a decent sentence and who can't comprehend what they read unless it's written in 4th-grade English. This may sound like nothing more than intellectual snobbery, but the truth is that the corrosive effects of this "dumbing down" now permeate our everyday life and work. Poor grammar and misspelling in newspapers, magazines and on television. "Song" lyrics that range from vulgar to pornographic. Books, magazines, movies and television shows that celebrate the lowest common denominators of our society. And most tragically, America's declining role as world leader in science, technology and literature.
Now comes a broadside against the culturally and economically damaging effects of the Internet on our lives. "The monkeys are taking over the show," says Andrew Keen in his new book, The Cult of the Amateur . His simian allusion is to 19th century biologist T. H. Huxley's "infinite monkey theorem." Huxley theorized that if infinite monkeys were equipped with infinite typewriters, eventually some of them would write masterpieces comparable to those of Shakespeare, Plato and Adam Smith."
