Comment: My mod points (Score 2) 303
You have them. Fuck ads. All of them. Always. Forever.
Comment: I have a Surface RT pad from work (Score 1) 147
Comment: 1 option here - Comcast (Score 3, Informative) 513
20 mbps/$76mo. Steadily increases. It started out $20 for first 6 mos, then $50 something after that, 5 years later in the same apartment it's ~$76 with nothing but internet.
Comment: Sounds like ... (Score 1) 478
They're trying to limit legal liability to me. No cameras on the bus but if some shit goes down they have proof of what actually happened.
Comment: Fuck Beta (Score 1) 60
Long live Classic.
+ - Slashdot BETA Discussion-> 60
Submitted
by
mugnyte
mugnyte (203225) writes "With Slashdot's recent restyled "BETA" slowly rolled to most users, there's been a lot of griping about the changes. This is nothing new, as past style changes have had similar effects. However, this pass there are significant usability changes: A narrower read pane, limited moderation filtering, and several color/size/font adjustments. BETA implies not yet complete, so taking that cue — please list your specific, detailed opinoins, one per comment, and let's use the best part of slashdot (the moderation system) to raise the attention to these. Change can be jarring, but let's focus on the true usability differences with the new style."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Comment: They need (Score 5, Insightful) 343
to take away Obama's and give him that one. They should do it while playing the candidate Obama vs President Obama videos in the background.
Comment: I work for a public high school. Grades 6-12. (Score 1) 231
Our Media Center has 33 desktops with internet connections. Those + the large Anime/Manga (this is limited to 9-12 graders) sections are by far the most utilized. It's also where you come to get issued a netbook (if you're eligible) or a graphing calculator or a required-for-a-class novel. Outside of these things it's used for testing, and tutoring (including after school).
Teachers have access to a BD/DVD and even, yes, VHS video section as well as borrowing blu-ray players, getting things laminated, and the ability to schedule the computer use (along with our 5 other labs).
The building I worked at previously was a "community school" which meant people could come in off the street to use it like a public library, those people were mostly interested in the computers for job searches or whatnot.
+ - Court Says Craigslist Sperm Donor Must Pay Child Support
Submitted
by
Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com (2995471) writes "David Stout reports at Time Magazine that what began with a Craigslist ad from a lesbian couple calling for a sperm donor in rural Topeka, Kansas ended in court on Wednesday with a judge ordering the sperm donor to pay child support. The Kansas Department for Children and Families filed the case in October 2012 seeking to have William Marotta declared the father of a child born to Jennifer Schreiner in 2009 so he can be held responsible for about $6,000 in public assistance the state provided, as well as future child support. "In this case, quite simply, the parties failed to perform to statutory requirement of the Kansas Parentage Act in not enlisting a licensed physician at some point in the artificial insemination process, and the parties' self-designation of (Marotta) as a sperm donor is insufficient to relieve (Marotta) of parental right and responsibilities to the child," wrote Judge Mattivi. Marotta opposed that action, saying he had contacted Schreiner and her partner at the time, Angela Bauer, in response to an ad they placed on Craigslist seeking a sperm donor and signed a contract waiving his parental rights and responsibilities. "We stand by that contract," says Defense attorney Swinnen adding that the Kansas statute doesn't specifically require the artificial insemination be carried out by a physician. "The insinuation is offensive, and we are responding vigorously to that. We stand by our story. There was no personal relationship whatsoever between my client and the mother, or the partner of the mother, or the child. Anything the state insinuates is vilifying my client, and I will address it.""
+ - North Korea Claim To Have Landed A Man On The Sun-> 3
Submitted
by
Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "The state news agency of North Korea has confirmed that they have become the first, and we suspect the only country in the world to ever land a man on the sun. True to their word given that early last year they said they'll perform the first solar landing.
Their astronaut, Hung Il Gong, left in his specially designed rocket ship at three AM on his solo trip to our nearest star, The Sun. He arrived on the sun just four hours later where he collected sun spot samples to bring back to his supreme leader as a gift, and then boarded his ship to make the four hour journey home for a heroes welcome.
"We are very delighted to announce a successful mission to put a man on the sun. North Korea has beaten every other country in the world to the sun. Hung Il Gong is a hero and deserves a hero's welcome when he returns home later this evening." said a North Korean central news anchor during a live broadcast."
Link to Original Source
Their astronaut, Hung Il Gong, left in his specially designed rocket ship at three AM on his solo trip to our nearest star, The Sun. He arrived on the sun just four hours later where he collected sun spot samples to bring back to his supreme leader as a gift, and then boarded his ship to make the four hour journey home for a heroes welcome.
"We are very delighted to announce a successful mission to put a man on the sun. North Korea has beaten every other country in the world to the sun. Hung Il Gong is a hero and deserves a hero's welcome when he returns home later this evening." said a North Korean central news anchor during a live broadcast."
Link to Original Source
+ - The final confessions of a Silk Road kingpin->
Submitted
by
Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "The Daily Dot has an extensive interview with Steven Sadler, aka Nod, one of the most popular cocaine and heroin dealers on the Silk Road—and one of the informants who brought down Silk Road owner Dread Pirate Roberts.
"The conditions of the bond were clear: Sadler wasn't allowed leave the state of Washington. He was also strictly forbidden from dealing or using drugs.
"Hold on,” he cut in at one point. “I have to buy some cocaine, can I call you back?"
Five minutes later, he was back on the line, as chatty as ever.
At the time, there was no clear direction forward. Maybe he'd go to Las Vegas on a wild bender. Maybe he'd try to start his drug empire over in Los Angeles. Maybe he’d visit old friends in his hometown who didn't know about his criminal enterprise.
Sadler talked through each potential scenario, as if working through them in his mind, looking for possibilities and pitfalls. In roughly 10 hours of phone calls over the course of several weeks, Sadler told me almost everything.
Then he dropped off the grid.""
Link to Original Source
"The conditions of the bond were clear: Sadler wasn't allowed leave the state of Washington. He was also strictly forbidden from dealing or using drugs.
"Hold on,” he cut in at one point. “I have to buy some cocaine, can I call you back?"
Five minutes later, he was back on the line, as chatty as ever.
At the time, there was no clear direction forward. Maybe he'd go to Las Vegas on a wild bender. Maybe he'd try to start his drug empire over in Los Angeles. Maybe he’d visit old friends in his hometown who didn't know about his criminal enterprise.
Sadler talked through each potential scenario, as if working through them in his mind, looking for possibilities and pitfalls. In roughly 10 hours of phone calls over the course of several weeks, Sadler told me almost everything.
Then he dropped off the grid.""
Link to Original Source
+ - US Supreme Court: Patent Holders Must Prove Infringment->
Submitted
by
jfruh
jfruh (300774) writes "The Supreme Court issued a ruling that might help marginally curb patent madness. Ruling on a case between Medtronic and Mirowski Family Ventures, the court rules that the burden of proof in patent infringement cases is always on the patent holder. This is true even in the specific case at hand, in which Medtronic sought a declaratory judgement that it was not violating the Mirowski patents."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
+ - Watchdog Report Says N.S.A. Program Is Illegal and Should End->
Submitted
by
schwit1
schwit1 (797399) writes "An independent federal privacy watchdog has concluded that the National Security Agency’s program to collect bulk phone call records has provided only “minimal” benefits in counterterrorism efforts, is illegal and should be shut down.
The findings are laid out in a 238-page report, scheduled for release by Thursday, that represent the first major public statement by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which Congress made an independent agency in 2007 and only recently became fully operational.
Defenders of the program have argued that Congress acquiesced to that secret interpretation of the law by twice extending its expiration without changes. But the report rejects that idea as “both unsupported by legal precedent and unacceptable as a matter of democratic accountability.”
The report also scrutinizes in detail a handful of investigations in which the program was used, finding “no instance in which the program directly contributed to the discovery of a previously unknown terrorist plot or the disruption of a terrorist attack.”"
Link to Original Source
The findings are laid out in a 238-page report, scheduled for release by Thursday, that represent the first major public statement by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which Congress made an independent agency in 2007 and only recently became fully operational.
Defenders of the program have argued that Congress acquiesced to that secret interpretation of the law by twice extending its expiration without changes. But the report rejects that idea as “both unsupported by legal precedent and unacceptable as a matter of democratic accountability.”
The report also scrutinizes in detail a handful of investigations in which the program was used, finding “no instance in which the program directly contributed to the discovery of a previously unknown terrorist plot or the disruption of a terrorist attack.”"
Link to Original Source
+ - Google Patent: Self-Driving Cars Chauffeur Shopping 'Whales'
Submitted
by
theodp
theodp (442580) writes "Probably not the most fortuitous timing, but the USPTO has granted Google its wish for a patent on Transportation-Aware Physical Advertising Conversions, a system that arranges for free or discounted transportation to an advertiser's business location that will be more or less convenient based upon how profitable a customer is deemed. It's reminiscent of the free personal chauffeured limousine rides long enjoyed by Las Vegas casino 'whales', but at scale and using cars that may not have drivers. A server, Google explains, 'arranges the selected transportation option, for example, by dispatching a vehicle or providing instructions for using public transportation.' So, it seems a Larry or Sergey type might expect to be taken gratis to the Tesla dealership via a private autonomous car or even helicopter, while others may get a discount on a SF Muni bus ride to Safeway. Google also describes how advertisers will be able to use a customer's profile 'to exclude a customer from being considered for an offer based on exclusion criteria identified by a business,' such as age, job title, purchasing history, clothing size, or other 'desirable' characteristics."
+ - Why Whistleblowers Cannot Get a Fair Trial->
Submitted
by
phantomfive
phantomfive (622387) writes ""Seven whistleblowers have been prosecuted under the Obama administration," writes Jesselyn Radack, a lawyer who advised two of them. She explains why they can't get a fair trial. In the Thomas Drake case, the administration retroactively marked documents as classified, saying, "he knew they should have been classified." In the Bradley Manning case, the jury wasn't allowed to see what information was leaked. The defendants, all who have been charged with espionage, have limited access to court documents. Most of these problems happen because the law was written to deal with traitorous spies, not whistleblowers."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source