AcidTag - Slashdot User

Has filesharing stemmed the flow of new music?-> 0

Submitted by Kavafy on Monday November 21 2011, @01:01PM

Kavafy writes "In a new working paper, economist Joel Waldfogel attempts to estimate the continued flow of high-quality new music since the emergence, at the turn of the millennium, of Napster, the daddy of all file sharing services. Waldfogel concludes that there is "no evidence that changes since Napster have affected the quantity of new recorded music or artists coming to market.""
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26,000 Customers Lost Internet Access Friday 0

Submitted by AcidTag on Monday November 21 2011, @12:53PM

AcidTag writes "My girlfriend discovered Friday night that her ISP OpenRange had ceased operations with no warning. It had been previously reported that OpenRange would continue operations through the end of the year. Her and 26,000 other rural customers are now without Internet access."

How to love a programmer-> 1

Submitted by

hwf829

on Thursday August 25 2011, @06:57PM

hwf829 writes "After several months into a relationship, as a programmer, I've finally come to terms with what love is. There are basically some things that people miss when they think of programmers, and which doesn't have to be. So here goes my article."
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JPEGmini – the Future of Image Compression?-> 3

Submitted by

Iddo Genuth

on Thursday August 25 2011, @04:37PM

Iddo Genuth writes "An Israeli company recently unveiled what might be the next generation of image compression technology. Based on the JPEG format, the new JPEGmini is compatible with existing JPEG but capable of reducing the file size of an image by up to 5X without any visible loss of image quality. A revolution on its way? MegaPixel.co.il set out to test it and talk with the developers."
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XBMC Bridges the communications gap with the TV-> 0

Submitted by

Malard

on Thursday August 25 2011, @03:28PM

Malard writes "Home theatre systems have forever suffered from the bain of multiple remote controls. One for the HTPC and at least one other for the TV. Pulse-Eight working with XBMC have built a USB — CEC Adapter allowing users to consolidate their remotes and even throw out HTPC specific remotes in favour of their TV or Blu-Ray remote control."
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RealNetworks crushes Dutch webmaster for hyperlink-> 0

Submitted by suraj.sun on Thursday August 25 2011, @03:02PM

suraj.sun writes "RealNetworks has sued the owner of a website in The Netherlands for displaying a hyperlink to a competing freeware package. As the company seeks compensation for its claimed losses, the 26-year-old man is borrowing money from family to survive.

The case started in 2010 when RealNetworks demanded that the computers belonging to Hilbrand Edskes and his family be confiscated. A Dutch judge granted this in an ex-parte ruling, based on an alleged violation of copyright law and trademark law. The company claims that Edskes was hosting the infringing software. The move to secretly obtain the order was meant to ensure that evidence wasn’t deleted.

Edskes has a website, Codecpack.nl, that links to a wide variety of freeware programs. One of these is "Real Alternative", a competitor of the mediaplayer RealPlayer from RealNetworks.

However, Edskes wasn’t hosting the software, but just redirected to other sites for the actual download. The complaint turned out to be based on a hyperlink to the software. To date there have been two court sessions, and in December Edskes will have to testify under oath.

PC Advisor: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/tech-industry/3299285/realnetworks-crushes-dutch-webmaster-for-hyperlink/"
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More Photoshopped Evidence In Apple vs. Samsung-> 0

Submitted by

jfruhlinger

on Friday August 19 2011, @01:24PM

jfruhlinger writes "It seems that Apple can't stop Photoshopping evidence in its EU lawsuit against Samsung. We already saw that the company used trickery in its side-by-side comparison of the iPad and Galaxy Tab; now it appears that it's fudging the comparison between the iPhone and Galaxy S as well."
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OSX Lion ships with faulty NVidia Drivers-> 0

Submitted by TeaCurran on Thursday August 04 2011, @02:59PM

TeaCurran writes "Apple OSX Lion shipped with new NVidia video drivers that are causing anyone with a mid 2010 Macbook Pro to get a kernel panic every 5-10 minutes. Apple knew about the issue before shipping lion, hasn't responded to the issue, and is censoring posts in their support forum that mention words like 'boycot' and 'petition'. NVidia has responded that the drivers are the responsibility of Apple so they won't deal with the issue. How a major hardware manufacturer can ship such a faulty product without getting much press about it is completely beyond me."
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Diver Snaps First Photo of Fish Using Tools-> 0

Submitted by sciencehabit on Friday July 08 2011, @05:14PM

sciencehabit writes "While exploring Australia's Great Barrier Reef, professional diver Scott Gardner heard an odd cracking sound and swam over to investigate. What he found was a footlong blackspot tuskfish holding a clam in its mouth and whacking it against a rock. Soon the shell gave way, and the fish gobbled up the bivalve, spat out the shell fragments, and swam off. Fortunately, Gardner had a camera handy and snapped what seem to be the first photographs of a wild fish using a tool."
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Mini Infrared Theremin-> 0

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 07 2011, @02:58PM

An anonymous reader writes "....IR sensors used to detect the distance between the sensor and an object are a perfect fit for a DIY Theremin because they are low cost and they are reliable enough to get the project working. The idea here is that instead of using antennas, we'll use infrared proximity and be able to play an instrument, the Mini IR Theremin!"
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