MouseR - Slashdot User

NASA Reveals New Images of Apollo Landing Sites 269

Posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday September 06 2011, @03:33PM
from the looks-like-photoshop-to-me dept.

sighted writes "Sharp new images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites in amazing detail, including the last foot trails left by astronauts on the lunar surface." These pictures were grabbed after the LRO dropped its orbit from 50km above the surface to 25km.

USPTO Issues 8,000,000th Patent 108

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday August 17 2011, @09:53AM
from the congratulations-i-think dept.

toybuilder writes "It took nearly 80 years for the first 1 million patents to issue in the U.S. On Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued its eight-millionth patent. This most recent 1 million patents took only about 5 years."

Bill Gates Looks to Reinvent the Toilet 471

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday July 13 2011, @12:10PM
from the please-no-pop-ups dept.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the German government are working on a $10 million project to provide innovative sanitation facilities to 800,000 Kenyans over the next five years. From the article: "The goal is to find 'innovative solutions' for sanitation in poor urban areas. Gates says it's time to move on from the era of the classic toilet. He points out that, despite all the recent achievements, 40% of the world's population, or some 2.5 billion people, still lives without proper means of flushing away excrement. But just giving them Western-style toilets isn't possible because of the world's limited water resources." I wonder what the toilet version of The Blue Screen of Death is.

Zuckerberg Quits Google+ Over Privacy Concerns 284

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday July 13 2011, @09:43AM
from the so-much-irony dept.

ianpm writes "Mark Zuckerberg has decided to leave Google's new social network because he 'doesn't want to be tracked.' In other news, the Internet's irony meter has just exploded. Robert Scoble is now the most followed person on Google+ according to The Inquirer." Most of the article is about the rankings of various G+ users with big followings. I currently have a measly 400 or so. Guess I'll never be as cool as MySpace's Tom.

New Apple Multi-Touch Patent Is Too Broad 310

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday June 22 2011, @11:54AM
from the they-usually-are dept.

adeelarshad82 writes "Nearly three and a half years later, Apple has finally been awarded the U.S. patent number 7,966,578, which according to the patent experts should worry rivals. According to exclusive interviews with patent experts, the incredibly broad patent puts Apple in a strong position when it comes to displaying content and using certain finger gestures on smart phones. The patent is so broad that not only will Apple's legal team target iPhone competitors but will also look to go after iPad and iPod rivals. Experts also discussed the scenario of Apple licensing its patented technology or for that matter, the courts completely scrapping the patent in public's interest."

Comment: You guys are completely paranoid (Score 3, Interesting) 375

by MouseR on Tuesday June 21 2011, @02:53PM (#36517226) Attached to: Might iCloud Be a Musical Honeypot?

You guys are completely paranoid.

There is no telling the difference between a CD that iTunes ripped or aggregated from your disk (which might have been ripped prior to iTunes' existence). Remember MacAMP (or any *AMP)? How about SoundJam? There was music before iTunes. (I tell ya!)

They are SELLING you an online subscription to "upgrade" (ie, crossgrade) this music to their catalog. This way they can stream to your devices and... believe it or not... possible upcoming thin, storage-less inexpensive devices.

The only trap in there, if any, is user's reliance on a yearly subscription; how many times are you willing to pay for the music you already own?

Might iCloud Be a Musical Honeypot? 375

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday June 21 2011, @02:42PM
from the well-of-course-it-is dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Between watermarked MP3 files and matching identical files, iCloud Music Match might wind up being a giant trap for finding owners of illegally copied files should the RIAA subpoena the evidence."

Big Drop In Solar Activity Could Cool Earth 569

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday June 14 2011, @05:11PM
from the buy-a-sweater dept.

coondoggie writes "Scientists say the Sun, which roils with flares and electromagnetic energy every 11 years or so, could go into virtual hibernation after the current cycle of high activity, reducing temperatures on Earth. As the current sunspot cycle, Cycle 24, begins to ramp up toward maximum, scientists from the National Solar Observatory and the Air Force Research Laboratory independently found that the Sun's interior, visible surface, and corona indicate the next 11-year solar sunspot cycle, Cycle 25, will be greatly reduced or may not happen at all."

Comment: Re:RapidWeaver (Score 1) 545

by MouseR on Tuesday June 14 2011, @11:21AM (#36436478) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Web Site Editing Software For the Long Haul?

Yeah I'm aware.

Thing is, given I have to move lots of stuff out of MobileMe before June 2012, I would rather make sure that any new site content be in a format that i know will be available in the futur and can still be edited with new content. In particular, photos out of my Galleries that were linked into forum posts will have to be relinked (cringe) off my new hosting. No way I'm going to redo that from iCloud albums. Screw the cloud: I want to own my data.

So, older content from iWeb is currently being pushed onto my new hosting as-is.

New content is being put into MediaWiki and SimpleMachine.

Am still looking for a decent photo sharing solution. Tying to decide between 4images, coppermine or Gallery.

Comment: Re:huh? (Score 1) 545

by MouseR on Tuesday June 14 2011, @10:16AM (#36435408) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Web Site Editing Software For the Long Haul?

No. Steve Jobs yanked the services out of reach. Happened with iTools, Dot mac groups and HomePage, iWeb & MobileMe.

Sure MobileMe will remain available until June 2012, but it doesn't change the fact that I have THOUSANDS of MobileMe Gallery -hosted images linked in hundreds of forum posts all over the next. I will have to relink those images.

So yeah: call that a gun to my head.