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Movies

Netflix changes its mind, will keep Profiles featu->

Submitted by Change
Change writes "I too was disappointed at Netflix's decision to remove the Profiles feature, and let them know via email and telephone. I was surprised to find the following email in my inbox today: "You spoke, and we listened. We are keeping Profiles. Thank you for all the calls and emails telling us how important Profiles are. We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you." I thought that it sounded too good to be true, and went to their blog to confirm, finding this entry. Netflix decided to listen to its customers, and keep a feature that many of us find essential for our use of their service. I am surprised, and very pleased."
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Movies

Netflix to eliminate "Profiles" feature->

Submitted by
Donald Burr of Borg
Donald Burr of Borg writes "One of my favorite features of Netflix, the video-rental-by-mail service, is "profiles." Profiles lets you create "sub-accounts" for your friends/family, so that they can share in the video rental love. Each profile gets his/her own Netflix queue that he/she can manage with their own login/password. You can divide up how many movies get sent to you vs. the other profiles under your account. E.g. if you have a 6-out-at-once plan, you can choose to get 3 movies at a time, and have 3 other profiles each receive 1 movie. Unfortunately, the fun stops September 1, at which point Netflix is, for unknown reasons, going to terminate this feature. Why? To "...help us to continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers." Improvement indeed!"
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Robotics

New Robot Can Help You Find Your Way 77

Posted by ScuttleMonkey
from the ceiling-bot-watches-you-navigate dept.
BoingBoing is reporting that a new robotic assistant may soon be able to help you find your way the next time you are lost in a mall or a supermarket. The latest demonstration from the Osaka-based Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR) showcased "Robovie", a semi-humanoid robot designed to monitor up to 20 people at a time and classify each person's behavior into one of 10 categories (waiting, wandering, walking fast, etc). Whenever it was able to classify someone as disoriented it would approach them and ask "are you lost", if the answer was yes it provided directions, otherwise it just recommended nearby shops and restaurants.
It's funny. Laugh.

Student Given Detention For Using Firefox [UPDATED] 818

Posted by ScuttleMonkey
from the teacher-actually-an-opera-fanatic dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Several sites are reporting that a student has been given detention for using Firefox to do his classwork. No, really. The student was in class, working on an assignment that necessitated using a browser. The teacher instructed him to stop using Firefox and to do his classwork, to which the student responded that he was doing his classwork using a 'better' browser (it is unclear whether the computer was the student's own computer or not). The clueless teacher (who called the rogue program 'Firefox.exe') ordered him to detention." Update: 12/17 20:09 by SM One of the school officials was nice enough to contact us and let us know this is a hoax. If you are planning on calling the school please refrain from doing so, I'm sure they have had enough excitement for one day.
Unix

OpenMotif 2.3 Released->

Submitted by
joeljkp
joeljkp writes "OpenMotif 2.3 has been released, marking the first major release to the venerable toolkit since 2000. Major features include anti-aliased fonts, UTF-8 support, and native support for PNG and JPEG images, among other things. OpenMotif is the open source counterpart to the Motif toolkit, which, according to the site, "is the leading user interface toolkit for the UNIX based operating system.""
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Software

AI behind smart car wheels

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes "Scientists at the University of Portsmouth, UK, have developed an artificial intelligence system to build the world's first thinking car wheel. The steering wheels use microcomputers which perform 4,000 calculations per second and communicate with each other. Then the wheels use AI to learn as the car is being driven, making calculations and adjustments according to travelling speed and road conditions. These intelligent tires mark the first time AI has replaced fundamental mechanics within a motor vehicle. This means that we might some day ride safer and driver cars. But don't panic! If the system doesn't work properly, the driver remains in control of the car. But read more for additional details about these smart car wheels."
Privacy

British break global, web-based, pedophile ring

Submitted by
westlake
westlake writes "In a breaking news story, the AP is reporting that the British police with the help of U.S. and Canadian investigators, have broken a web-based global pedophile ring, with 700 arrests world-wide. The ring was traced to an Internet chat room called "Kids the Light of Our Lives" that featured images of children being subjected to horrific sexual abuse including streaming live videos. Police rescued 31 children, some of them only a few months old. More than 15 of the children were in the United Kingdom. Authorities said they used surveillance tactics normally used against terrorism suspects and drug traffickers to infiltrate the ring at its highest level. The host of the chat room, Timothy David Martyn Cox, 27, of Buxhall, who used the online identity "Son of God," admitted to nine counts of possessing and distributing indecent images. Cox was given an indeterminate jail sentence Monday at a court in eastern England. That means he will remain in prison until authorities determine he is no longer a threat to children. 700 held as pedophile ring smashed, Police Smash Global Pedophile Ring"

Liar, n.: A lawyer with a roving commission. -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"