Comment: Re:Outdated? (Score 1) 267
the results scale smoothly upwards
Do they?
Surprise Arrest For Online Scientology Critic 954
Posted
by
kdawson
from the don't-make-fun-of-the-FSM dept.
from the don't-make-fun-of-the-FSM dept.
destinyland writes "An online critic of Scientology was confronted at a routine hearing Tuesday with surprise arrest warrants and thrown into jail. Six years as a fugitive ended in February. (After picketing a Scientology complex in 2000 over the unexplained death of a woman there, he'd been arrested for 'threatening a religion' over a Usenet joke about 'Tom Cruise Missiles.') But 64-year-old Keith Henson had been out on bail, and was even scheduled to address the European Space Agency conference on Space Elevators. He's a co-founder of the Space Colony movement, and one of the original researchers at Texas Instruments. In this interview he discusses both space-based solar energy and his war with the Scientologists — just a few days before he was arrested."
Portable That Can Play MP3 from DVD?
Submitted
by
Denyer
Denyer writes "These days CD players that can handle MP3 from data CD are ubiquitous. Many portable DVD players also claim to play MP3s, but turn out to play them only from burned CDs, not burned DVDs. Can any /.ers recommend some models that definitely do play MP3 from DVD-R and/or DVD+R? Thanks!"
Album giveaway could ignite music revolution
Submitted
by
Denyer
Denyer writes "A couple of years ago, Seattle group Harvey Danger released their album Little By Little online, free, forever. Now press elsewhere are increasingly giving coverage to the idea that music serves better as the advertising for live shows and merchandise, and UK band The Crimea have thrown themselves into the ring with their second album, Secrets of the Witching Hour. What do Slashdot readers think: is there value in recordings themselves any more, or are they mostly something to be shared and attract attention to a band's other endeavours?"
Music Decoded from 600 Year Old Engravings
Submitted
by
RulerOf
RulerOf writes "Musicians recently unlocked a 600 year old mystery that had been encoded into the walls of the Rosslyn Chapel that was featured in "The Da Vinci Code." The song was carved into the walls of the chapel not using traditional notes, but in the form of geometric shapes known as cymatics, or Chladni patterns. After the entire song was decoded, it was set to traditional lyrics and recorded, and can be heard in a video featured here, at the musicians' website. The video also gives a visual representation of how the engravings match up to the cymatic patterns.
From the article:
Lastly, a direct link to the video."
From the article:
"The music has been frozen in time by symbolism...They are of such exquisite detail and so beautiful that we thought there must be a message here." The two men matched each of the patterns on the carved cubes to a Chladni pitch, and were able finally to unlock the melody.
Lastly, a direct link to the video."
Apple's Windows Apps Not Ready For Vista 278
Posted
by
kdawson
from the day-late dept.
from the day-late dept.
narramissic writes "A new Apple technical support document confirms that none of the company's Windows Applications are compatible with Vista. Affected applications include: 'QuickTime, the iPod shuffle reset utility, Bonjour for Windows, AirPort for Windows, the iDisk utility, AppleWorks for Windows, and Apple Software Update for Windows. The stand-alone iPod updater for iTunes 6 for Windows also isn't ready for Vista.'" The article refers to an Apple tech support document dated "today" (02/08) — without providing a link — but a search turns up only this one from 02/02.
Did Gates Fib About H1-B Salaries? 345
Posted
by
kdawson
from the little-white-ones dept.
from the little-white-ones dept.
netbuzz writes "While in Washington last year lobbying for higher H1-B visa limits, Bill Gates told David Broder of the Washington Post that Microsoft starts such workers at about $100,000. An analysis by one offshoring critic suggests that's not true. If his analysis is correct, it would undermine part of the case for lifting H1-B ceilings.
Is DRM Intrinsically Distasteful? 631
Posted
by
Zonk
from the tastes-like-chicken dept.
from the tastes-like-chicken dept.
jelton writes "If digital media was available for sale at a reasonable price, but subject to a DRM scheme that allowed full legitimate usage (format shifting, time shifting, playback on different devices, etc.) and only blocked illicit usage (illegal copying), would you support the usage of such a DRM scheme? Especially if it meant a wealth of readily available compatible devices? In other words, if you object to DRM schemes, is your objection based on principled or practical concerns?"
Gates Foundation Revokes Pledge to Review Portfolio 236
Posted
by
Zonk
from the no-pledge-no-problem dept.
from the no-pledge-no-problem dept.
NewsCloud writes "After the LA Times reported that the Gates Foundation often invests in companies hurting the very communities Bill and Melinda want to help, the Seattle Times reported the foundation planned 'a systematic review of its investments to determine whether it should pull its money out of companies that are doing harm to society'. Shortly after that interview, the Gates Foundation took down their public statement on this and replaced it with a significantly altered version which seems to say that investing responsibly would just be too complex for them and that they need to focus on their core mission: 'There are dozens of factors that could be considered, almost all of which are outside the foundation's areas of expertise. The issues involved are quite complex...Which social and political issues should be on the list? ... Many of the companies mentioned in the Los Angeles Times articles, such as Ford, Kraft, Fannie Mae, Nestle, and General Electric, do a lot of work that some people like, as well as work that some people do not like. Some activities might even be viewed positively by some people and negatively by others.'"
Showdown Coming: Mass Media vs. the New Media
Submitted
by
JonH_cargye
JonH_cargye writes "The big showdown between traditional mass media and the new media aggregators is coming. But not in the year 2011 as predicted in the flash-film cult classis "EPIC 2014" — it's happening in the next few weeks. In China, of all places. A copyright infringement lawsuit filed by one of China's largest newspapers is expected to be taken up soon by a court in Shanghai. The Beijing News is suing popular Internet site Tom.com seeking the modest sum of $400,000 in damages. But the suit has far-reaching significance. Just as they have in the U.S. and Europe, digital news media in China are putting the hurt on mass media, especially daily newspapers. Declining newspaper circulation leads to reduced advertising revenue, which leads inevitably to consolidation and downsizing — unless the newspapers fight back.
For more, see:
http://jon8332.typepad.com/force_for_good/2007/01/ epic_showdown_l.html"
Security freebie for nonprofits, universities
Submitted
by
bednarz
bednarz writes "Network World is reporting that security vendor Acunetix will offer universities and nonprofit organizations a free a Web site security scan and report. The audit checks for SQL injection, cross-site scripting and other vulnerabilities. It also checks shopping carts, forms, dynamic content, and Web applications for security holes. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/011007-acune tix-free-scan.html"
Paypal Withholds Donation Slain Soldiers' Families
Submitted
by
r_benchley
r_benchley writes "The jackasses over at Paypal have put a freeze on an account that was set up for charitable donations for the families of soldiers killed in Iraq. Details on this disgusting story can be found at Deadspin: http://deadspin.com/sports/adam-knox-fund/paypal-d oesnt-want-slain-soldiers-families-to-receive-aid- 227699.php Hopefully, Slashdotters will realize what kind of jerks work at Paypal and will use another service for online transactions."
Paypal Won't Release Funds for Slain Soldier's Fam
Submitted
by
robustyoungsoul
robustyoungsoul writes "Popular sports blog Deadspin established the Adam Knox Fund for the purpose of raising money in honor of the fallen soldier who was killed in Iraq. They took the donations through a PayPal account.
Turns out now, however, PayPal will not release the money due to the way the account was set up on their end.
Looks like another in a long list of shady occurrences at PayPal..."
Chinese court issues a summons on German blogger
Submitted
by
gaellerman
gaellerman writes "Chinese authorities can threaten international bloggers? You wouldn't think so? Well, here's some news.
German newsmagazin Der Spiegel had a report on last october 19th about MAN, a German bus maker, sueing the Chinese company Zonda for copying their design of a luxury coach. In his autoregional blog Berlin based Ron Aron Hillmann quoted parts of the Spiegel report. As his sole personal contribution he changed Spiegel's introductory phrase "Chinese racketeers are shamelessly copying international name brand products" to "This example shows how fast and ruthless Chinese are when it comes to copying."
Now Zhongwei Bus (Zonda is their daughter company) filed a lawsuit against Hillmann in Yancheng, China, served through a German court (including a German translation). Hillmann is summoned to pull back his libels and to appear at the trial in Yangcheng on july 17th. His attorney says there's no way to just ignore the case because then Hillmann would get sentenced in absentia — and ordered to pay damages etc which the Chinese authorities would collect through their German counterparts. Apparently there do exist respective international treaties, at least between China and Germany.
Spiegel has a detailed story (in German) on the Hillmann case."
Consumer Complaint about Simpsons Merchandise
Submitted
by
Keyz Karanza
Keyz Karanza writes "I am not sure this would qualify as news-worthy. In fact it is probably pretty trifling, but I wanted to make it known anyway — it is sort of a "consumers screwed yet again" interest.
I had recently bought a 365-Day Simpsons Trivia Desk Calendar, as I do every year. On the box, it clears states that the calendar contains "all-new trivia". Up until 2007 this had been true. But that came to an end.
Please look at this image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v123/HangoverMS/ simpcal.jpg
This is one of MANY examples showing that the 2007 calendar utilizes a blatant recycling of trivia questions. It wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that the publisher, Harper Paperbacks, intentionally lied about it right on the box.
I am not looking to collect any money from a lawsuit or even get my money refunded. And I am fully aware that I am just a Simpsons nerd and my complaint will probably never amount to anything. It would just be nice to see someone "call their bluff" so to speak by making their deception a little more wide-known than just me complaining to a handful of people.
I hope you can help. If not, thanks anyway."
I had recently bought a 365-Day Simpsons Trivia Desk Calendar, as I do every year. On the box, it clears states that the calendar contains "all-new trivia". Up until 2007 this had been true. But that came to an end.
Please look at this image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v123/HangoverMS
This is one of MANY examples showing that the 2007 calendar utilizes a blatant recycling of trivia questions. It wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that the publisher, Harper Paperbacks, intentionally lied about it right on the box.
I am not looking to collect any money from a lawsuit or even get my money refunded. And I am fully aware that I am just a Simpsons nerd and my complaint will probably never amount to anything. It would just be nice to see someone "call their bluff" so to speak by making their deception a little more wide-known than just me complaining to a handful of people.
I hope you can help. If not, thanks anyway."