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Why the need to throw in the condescending misogynist comment, Taco? What does it have to do with math or sports? Can we moderate you offtopic flamebait?

While it's great that a big corporation is being held liable for false advertising, aren't there worse examples out there than computer technical support? What about false advertising for medicines, diets, and health-related products and services? Alternative medicine is one gigantic - and very dangerous - scam. What about all the food product labeling - low fat, organic, and all that meaningless garbage that is totally deceptive? And what about the goddamn P3N15 3nlArgment pi11s I paid through the nose for - those farking things didn't work AT ALL!

I'll bite...

Aren't these two statements contradictory?

Remember that much celebrated tea party in, where was it, Boston? The one where none of the protagonists war uniforms or abided by the laws of armed conflict and then slipped back in to the public masses? The one where, today, the U.S. would classify them as illegal combatants and deny them access to any legal protection?

The one where the superior military, that could crush its opposition anywhere they stood and fought, couldn't defeat an army that kept slipping in to the countryside?

The one where the "evil" greater power could be demonised every time they caused collateral damage or took reprisals on the people the weaker force hid behind?

The one where the great general George Washington brilliantly used geurilla tactics to make up for never having more than 17,000 men in the field at any one time?

The one where, soon after winning its largely guerilla war, they wrote the second ammendment to their constitution to enshrine the right to that kind of combat?

The one where the larger but distant power regarded the attacks on its own holdings as terrorism - the term just wasn't widely used yet?

It's ironic that a nation formed on, and celebrating in its constitution, the principles of armed insurrection, guerilla warfare and terrorism when it was the weaker power gets its panties in such a collective bunch when people do exactly the same thing that worked so well for it back again.

Remember: If you win and you're powerful enough to write the history, it's noble. If you lose, it's evil terrorism. Until it's decided, which one it's viewed as simply depends on which side you're on.

walmartshopper67 writes "Crooks and Liars is reporting that Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) has introduced a bill that would require ISPs to "record all users' surfing activity, IM conversations and email traffic indefinitely". The bill would impose heavy fines and jail time on ISPs that do not save the required information. Not that this will pass, but come on, how can anyone think this is a good idea?"

njkid1 writes "It would appear that GameStop just made the industry's voluntary carding program mandatory as part of a strict new corporate policy to keep "M" rated games out of the hands of minors. If an employee sells a Mature game to a minor, he/she will be fired immediately. http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=1522 2&ncid=AOLGAM000500000000012"

Video blogger and independant journalist Josh Wolf has been in a federal jail for refusing to turn over a video of a San Francisco demonstration to the federal government. He's been jailed for 170 days now, a new record for US journalism. "Democracy Now!" has a new interview with Josh Wolf from jail. If this issue is not resolved, it this does not bode well for the concept of "citizen journalism"...

GnaGnaGna writes "Hi, I've lived in the US for almost a year now and have a full time position with a major American company under an H1-B visa (work visa for foreigners). Besides this job, I also run an increasingly popular website generating AdSense revenues. I am not sure if I am allowed to create a US company (most likely an LLC) under my legal status and transfer the Adsense profits to my personal bank account or a business bank account. Has any Slashdot readers faced a similar legal situation or know anything about it?"

amanda-backup writes "This blog discusses how the long tail effect has interesting implications on the world of backup software."

happylucky writes "Remember when Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) dumped some garbage into his engine for fuel in Back to the Future II? Startech Environmental Corporation has come up with a similar process that can take both hazardous and non-hazardous waste and convert it into energy, glass and hydrogen.

They use a plasma process that doesnt burn the garbage but breaks the molecules down into their individual elements (atoms). It is a safe process that involves a closed-loop system so no pollutants are released into the environment. All of it is converted into a safe material.

The company says that it will convert all hazardous waste, except nuclear waste, into an obsidian-like glass and hydrogen. The technology could potentially solve two problems at one time. It could help us solve our energy problem and our landfill problem."

fair_youth writes "While singing the praises of MPAA members at a recent Washington D.C. event, Warner Bros CEO Barry Meyer took a moment to bash fair-use advocate and CEA President Shapiro, saying that Hollywood is a great leader in innovation. Shapiro fired back, enumerating the ways in which Hollywood has tried to stifle technology whenever they were afraid of it. He came up with 8 decisive actions (mostly lawsuits) that prove that the industry is an enemy of innovation. Meyer may get the last laugh, though: "But Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) expressed a sentiment that movie executives were more willing to hear, telling the audience that 'I didn't want a level playing field' for the movie business. 'I want a fair advantage over every nation in the world.'""

An anonymous reader writes "Read/WriteWeb reports that Robert O'Callahan from Mozilla, a kiwi who drives the rendering engine of Mozilla/FireFox, spoke at the recent New Zealand Foo Camp event about how Firefox 3 will deliver support for offline applications. This means you'll be able to use your web apps — like Gmail, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, etc — in the browser even when offline. Not only does this move suit Google, but it makes Firefox attractive as the browser platform of choice for SaaS providers like salesforce.com. All of which will hit Microsoft where it hurts. Robert O'Callahan turns up in the comments to the article to say that "Yes, Web apps need to be reengineered for this, and no, no-one (including Google) has announced they will do so — although we hope they will!"."

Gerald asks: "After the most recent Wireshark release a certain AV vendor's product started warning users that the installer contained adware. Since then, I've spent several hours verifying this isn't the case, trying to get the AV vendor to fix their stuff, and reassuring affected users that we do not ship adware with our product. Unfortunately, this isn't an isolated case. I've had to do this several times over the past few years, and each incident uses up time that could have been better spent elsewhere. It's even worse for other projects. If you produce software, have you ever suffered collateral damage from AV false positives?"

An anonymous reader writes "Stage 3 Media Inc., a Vancouver-based production company, today announced the debut of its highly-anticipated teaser for SanctuaryTM, a compelling new science fiction series. Sanctuary's cast is led by internationally-recognized actor Amanda Tapping (Stargate: SG-1, Stargate Atlantis). Created by veteran science fiction writer/producer Damian Kindler, Sanctuary also stars Robin Dunne (Dawson's Creek, The Big Hit, Species 3) and Emilie Ullerup (Battlestar Galactica). Kindler and Tapping serve as executive producers along with N. John Smith and director Martin Wood (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis).

"The future of media is convergence: television, video gaming and social networking will combine to become a single, powerful entertainment medium," says Marc Aubanel, co-founder of Stage 3 Media(TM). "Sanctuary is poised to be at the forefront of this revolution."

To watch the Sanctuary teaser, please visit www.sanctuaryforall.com. For media content associated with this announcement, please visit www.stage3media.com.

About Stage 3 Media Inc.
Stage 3 Media is an innovative new media company based in Vancouver B.C. Founded in 2006, the Stage 3 MediaTM management team boasts more than 70 years collective experience in television and film production, video game design and information technology. Stage 3 Media's first series, SanctuaryTM is scheduled to premiere in spring 2007. For more information on Stage 3 Media please visit www.stage3media.com.

© Copyright 2007 Stage 3 Media Inc. Sanctuary and Stage 3 Media are trademarks of Stage 3 Media Inc. All other products or brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders."

Josh Nelson writes "A bill introduced last week by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) is beginning to raise eyebrows.

[It] would require ISPs to record all users' surfing activity, IM conversations and email traffic indefinitely. The bill, dubbed the Safety Act by sponsor Lamar Smith, a republican congressman from Texas, would impose fines and a prison term of one year on ISPs which failed to keep full records. (emphasis mine)

This is a terrifying development and it must be stopped before it gains any significant momentum. Background, Action items and contact information at this link."