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Comment: Re:Well.. (Score 4, Insightful) 189

by A Name Similar to Di (#31776992) Attached to: Foursquare Turns Down $100M
I logged in for the first time in a year just to agree with you. There was a survey a few years back (sorry I couldn't find the link) suggesting that many business owners regret going public and losing control of their company, despite the cash they made.

I realize Four Square's case isn't the same as going public, but it's similar. If you love what you do and already make good money, why ruin it? And for the record, you can pay everyone's salary and still make zero profit, so "unprofitable" doesn't mean that the people working there aren't making good money.
Music

RIAA to Force Universities to Spy on Students with->

Submitted by
Charles Martin
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."
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Classic Games (Games)

Checkers Solved

Submitted by
JnKor
JnKor writes "Scienctific American is reporting that checkers has been solved by researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton."
The Courts

Revote likey because Diebold recount impossible

Submitted by Aidtopia
Aidtopia writes "A judge in Berkeley, California, has ordered a re-vote in a 2004 medical marijuana measure which had lost by fewer than 200 votes. A group supporting the measure requested a recount, which was meaningless since the Diebold electronic voting machines didn't produce physical ballots. The group petitioned for audit logs and other supporting documentation. The Registrar initially gave them the run-around, and, with a lawsuit pending, shipped the machines back to the manufacturer where 96% of the stored votes were erased. The ruling is tentative. The revote, if it happens, will be in the 2008 general election, using different electronic voting machines that produce a paper trail."
Windows

Programs cannot be uninstalled in Vista

Submitted by
Corson
Corson writes "I am surprised nobody seems to have reported this on /. yet. Possibly after one of the latest updates in Windows Vista, two strange things happened: first, the Uninstall option is no longer available in the Control Panel when you right-click on older programs (most likely, those installed prior to the update in question, because uninstall works fine for recently installed programs; the Uninstall button is also missing on the toolbar at the top); second, some programs are no longer shown on the applications list in Control panel (e.g., Yahoo Messenger). A Google search returns quite a few hits on this issue (e.g., here, here, here, and here) but everybody seems to be waiting patiently for a sign from Microsoft. But M$ seem to have no clue or they would have fixed it already. I am just curious how many of you are experiencing this nuisance."
Google

AT&T slams Google over open-access wireless

Submitted by Robert
Robert writes "AT&T has asked Capitol Hill now to enable an open nationwide wireless spectrum, claiming that Google's lobbying of such a network is a bid by the search giant to obtain broadband airwaves at bargain-basement prices. Some companies, notably Google, have asked the FCC impose open-access requirements on the spectrum, which means any device could be used over the airwaves. Skype and satellite companies DirecTV and EchoStar are among the various proponents of an open-access network."
PlayStation (Games)

PS3 price cut only temporary->

Submitted by LordVader717
LordVader717 writes "GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that the USD 499 PS3 offer is only to clear existing stock, after which only the 80 GB bundle for USD 599 will remain.

SCEE president David Reeves has told GamesIndustry.biz that the 60GB PlayStation 3 will no longer be available in the US after stock sells out — which he predicts will occur by the end of the month.
Reeves was speaking at an E3 event to announce the introduction of a new PS3 bundle in Europe. When asked about possible criticisms over whether SCEE should have given consumers the option to pay a lower price, as SCEA has done, he replied, "Well, they're not really are they, because what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD 599 version with one game.
"All they're doing is taking their stock in trade that they've got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July."
"
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Linux Business

Linux creator calls GPLv3 authors 'hypocrites'->

Submitted by
AlexGr
AlexGr writes "We hear conflicting tales regarding Linus Torvalds acceptance of GPLv3. For example, this one by Paul McDougall (InformationWeek): Linux creator Linus Torvalds said the authors of a new software license expected to be used by thousands of open source programmers are a bunch of hypocrites and likened them to religious fanatics — the latest sign of a growing schism in the open source community between business-minded developers like Torvalds and free software purists. In an online post, Torvalds slammed executives at the Free Software Foundation, likening their mind-set to that of "religious fanatics and totalitarian states." Harsh! http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/ 2007/07/linux_creator_c.html"
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Education

12 IT skills that employers can't say no to->

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes "There are more IT positions open right now than recruiters can fill, according to a Computerworld story that lists the most desirable IT skills. 'The market for IT talent is hot, but only if you have the right skills. Take a look at what eight experts — including recruiters, curriculum developers, computer science professors and other industry observers — say are the hottest skills of the near future.'"
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And it should be the law: If you use the word `paradigm' without knowing what the dictionary says it means, you go to jail. No exceptions. -- David Jones