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Vengie (533896)

Vengie
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Vengie (533896)

  How DRM can save your local Music Store 2007-04-06 21:45 morlock_man

Submitted by morlock_man on Friday April 06 2007, @09:45PM
morlock_man writes "Music stores have traditionally been repositories for older formats of media as well as featuring new artists. Using these new distribution formats, these stores can now stock over 10 times as many artists in the same volume of space. And where a customer would previously purchase 1 album for $20, the can now purchase 10 full compilation albums for preview at the same price. Full article."
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 [+] submission, yro, music
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  Wired.com says geeks make better lovers 2007-04-06 21:26 christian.einfeldt

Submitted by christian.einfeldt on Friday April 06 2007, @09:26PM
christian.einfeldt writes "Let it never be said that geeks are not hot. As in sexy hot. So says none other than sex expert Regina Lynn, the sex-tech goddess who writes Wired.com's weekly 'Sex Drive' column. In this week's installment, Regina explains why geeks can put a new twist on the 'Field of Dreams' quip that 'if you build it, he will come:'

'Don't be surprised if your geek lover puts more thought into arranging the boudoir than you do, or if common household items soon take on a new dimension. More than one geek has told me that Home Depot is their favorite adult store.'
If you can imagine it, you can build it, and who has more fertile imaginations for tool and toy building than Slashdot readers?"
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 [+] submission, it, toy
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  Your Rights Online: Turkish Assembly Votes For Censoring of Web Sites 2007-04-06 20:49

Posted by Zonk on Friday April 06 2007, @08:49PM
from the we're-actually-really-nice-out-here-guys dept.
unity100 writes "CNN has some news about a recent development in Turkey where the Turkish assembly, totally out of line with Turkey's commitment to EU membership, has voted to have sites that 'insult to the founder of modern Turkey' censored from entire Turkish population. This, just about a month after the decision to censor YouTube was reached by the Turkish courts. 'On Thursday, lawmakers in the commission also debated whether the proposal should be widened to allow the Turkish Telecommunications Board to block access to any sites that question the principles of the Turkish secular system or the unity of the Turkish state -- a reference to Web sites with information on Kurdish rebels in Turkey.'"
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 [+] story, yro, censorship, internet, politics

  Apple denies "Big Stevie" isn't watching 2007-04-06 20:45 Webster Phreaky

Submitted by Webster Phreaky on Friday April 06 2007, @08:45PM
Webster Phreaky writes "Apple denies Apple TV 'backdoor' claims Apple isn't deleting hacks from the Apple TV, a report explains Macworld staff Apple has denied recent reports that is has enabled a "back-door" into the Apple TV which enables the company to prevent unsupported hacks. A wave of recent reports emerging from hacker websites have claimed that those engaged in attempting to extend the features of the device have seen code they have inserted into the machine disappear overnight, leading to speculation that Apple can return Apple TV units to factory settings. Apple is denying these claims, according to EnGadget. The report explains: "Apple's stance, it claims, is more along the lines of: it's your box, do with it what you please — but be mindful of voiding that warranty." The report suggests that some hacks may not be staying on the machine because the machine isn't built quite the way the hackers think it is at present. (COMMENT): Apple has a MUCH BIGGER Problem, the AppleTV apparently is your typical Apple Buggy Piece of Sh!t according to ALL THE BUG REPORTS on MacFixIt.com ( http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070330 090814465) and Mac Bug reporting sites ( http://www.techedgeezine.com/cartindex.htm )"
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 [+] submission, apple,
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  EFF: Patent Busting -- Prior Art Needed for VOIP 2007-04-06 20:41 JumperCable

Submitted by JumperCable on Friday April 06 2007, @08:41PM
JumperCable writes "The Electronic Frontier Foundation is seeking to bust an overly broad patent by a company called Acceris. Acceris claims patents on processes that implement voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) using analog phones as endpoints. These patents cover telephone calls over the Internet.

Specifically, the claims describe a system that connects two parties where the receiving party does not need to have a computer or an Internet connection, but the call is routed in part through the Internet or any other "public computer network". The calls must also be "full duplex", meaning that both parties can listen and talk at the same time, like in an ordinary phone call.

To bust these overly broad claims, we need "prior art" — any publication, article, patent or other public writing that describes the same or similar ideas being implemented before September 20, 1995."
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 [+] submission, yro, patents
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  Current owner of BeOS Code: Zeta is Illegal 2007-04-06 20:15 Hank Powers

Submitted by Hank Powers on Friday April 06 2007, @08:15PM
Hank Powers writes "The legal status of the Zeta operating system that was derived from the source code Be Inc. left shortly before going bankcrupt has been unclear for several years. Now, the current owner of the source code, ACCESS, claims "if Herr Korz feels that he holds a legitimate license to the BeOS code he's been using, we're completely unaware of it, and I'd be fascinated to see him produce any substantiation for that claim". The sales of Zeta have been suspended and so has the development been halted as well. OSNews has an article about the recent developments."
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  U of A compromised 2007-01-10 00:24 Anonymous Coward

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2007, @12:24AM
Anonymous Coward writes "Recently the University of Arizona was hacked and large amounts of student data along with financial information was compromised in the attack. FBI has seized systems and is conducting a full investigation. http://www.fox11az.com/news/topstories/stories/KMS B-20070108-dsbp-uacomputer.1f466f22.html"
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 [+] submission, it, security
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  Analysis of the Apple iPhone 2007-01-09 22:23 Provataki

Submitted by Provataki on Tuesday January 09 2007, @10:23PM
Provataki writes "Now that the initial dust of the iPhone's launch has settled down, here is a no-frills, objective analysis of the iPhone's feature-set and how it compares to other smartphones today. The author seems to like the device a lot and believes that will drive the industry in the coming years, but he also mentions the lack of a native (non-widget) SDK (which is what defines a "smartphone") and the old-style input method used (why didn't Apple go for something as innovative as this?). Stereo Bluetooth A2DP, MMS support and user-replaceable battery (a norm in the cellphone industry) are still a questionmark."
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 [+] submission, handheld
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  Top 10 things to hate about the Apple iPhone 2007-01-09 22:12 SlinkySausage

Submitted by SlinkySausage on Tuesday January 09 2007, @10:12PM
SlinkySausage writes "APC Magazine has looked at Apple's iPhone with a critical eye and spotted 10 areas that are significantly lacking. In summary: slow mobile data, battery life that sucks, non-user replaceable battery, potential for touch screen problems, heavy data usage, last-generation camera, proprietary tie-ins, no video chat, carrier lock-in, and not much storage space for video.

"Don't get me wrong," writes the article's author Dan Warne. "I want an iPhone as badly as the next guy, but in the midst of the gushing hype-stream out there, I'd like to provide a little balance and point out that the iPhone's far from perfect. Is it one of the most technologically advanced phones on the market? Absolutely. Do we live in a perfect world? Of course not. Do I wish Apple had reconsidered a few aspects of the iPhone to make it even better? Yep."
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 [+] submission, media
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  International fraud and eBay indifference 2007-01-09 20:55 RussInSanDiego

Submitted by RussInSanDiego on Tuesday January 09 2007, @08:55PM
RussInSanDiego writes "How does one go about exposing an ongoing fraud?

To summarize (the gory details are in my web page on the subject), in early December I somehow believed an eBay listing indicating that a guy in Hong Kong (Shenzhen, actually, but that's the least of the lies told) could actually deliver a 4GB MP3/MP4 Nano-clone for $60.

What arrived a few weeks later was a 1GB device whose Master Boot Record had been manipulated so that it reports a capacity of 4GB. There are other deficiencies, but that's the biggest one.

How can this happen? The guy has a 98.6% positive feedback rating!

Well, it's simple. This fellow has stumbled on the perfect scam. He (and his several eBay pseudonyms) sells dozens of these devices per hour, targeting customers around the world, and has done so since at least late November. Customers receive their merchandise, plug it in, and sure enough: Their computer reports that it has the listed capacity of 4GB. They give positive feedback!

Sometime later, when they populate the device, they find that most of the files generate an error when they try to play or retrieve them. Most people blame themselves. Those who do figure out what happened can't revise their positive feedback — it's too late.

What about Paypal Buyer Protection? I put in a claim, but they're throwing up roadblocks. They demand an independent analysis by a qualified party in order to consider a claim. On a cheap device such as this, a qualified engineer's analysis costs far more than the amount to be recovered! I found a qualified friend who corroborated my analysis, and the claim was decided in my favor. Next roadblock? They require me to ship this hacked piece of junk to Hong Kong. And since it's foolish to trust a known thief, I have to ship it trackably (and presumably photograph it going into the box!). That would cost almost as much as I paid the slimeball in the first place. And to put a cherry on top of all this, Paypal claims resolution only says that
...we may be unable to make a full recovery of your payment from the seller.


One would think that eBay/Paypal would be all over this, shutting down what is now an obvious scam. They've been told about it over and over, for weeks. And yet, the fraudsters STILL are selling these hacked devices right now. They rate of sales has increased, if anything! My back of the envelope calculation suggests that they've generated something in the ballpark of US$2M revenues in the last couple of months (36 units per hour x 24 hours x 60 days x $40 per bogus device — and that's just "e-britain". It doesn't include his predecessor, "ugoole", nor the other pseudonyms the guy is doubtlessly using.

A cynic would say that it's not in eBay's interests to shut this operation down. After all, they're collecting listing fees and value fees; and Paypal is collecting its fees. Why shut down the gravy train?

So I'd be interested in any suggestions on how to get the story out there, and how to get eBay/Paypal to prevent more of their customers from being ripped off. Any ideas? (So far, the only idea I've had is to use my daily eBay member contact allotment to let new buyers know what they've just let themselves in for, and who to blame (eBay!)."
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