Slashdot

If they keep hold of the spec and don't release it, you'll bitch about them not being very friendly.

If they release the spec to everyone and promise not to go after any Open Source projects that may take advantage of it, you'll bitch about them still trying to line their own pockets.

Really, Microsoft has no chance of pleasing you, do they? Just accept that it's good for everyone to have open standards, regardless of the possible ulterior motives involved.

Your first (wrong) assumption is that it has a damn thing to do with security. It has to do with the TSA wanting to be able to remove "troublemakers" (ie, anyone who thinks that demanding ID is unreasonable... can't have those free thinkers able to do what they want in our society).

Fuck DHS and the TSA. Fuck them and the horse they rode in on. They're far worse (if they aren't yet, they will be, just wait) than any terrorist ever could be.

Sad part is, I'd move to another country if I knew of any better ones out there. Anyone know of a mostly English-speaking country that doesn't walk all over its citizens' rights? I know the UK is right out, and I hear Australia is pretty bad too.

Can't imagine it's very live what with the lightspeed delay..

dissy writes " The consumerist has an article about how none of the estimated $400 million that the RIAA received in settlements with Napster, KaZaA, and Bolt over allegations of copyright infringement has gone to the artists whose copyrights were allegedly infringed. Now the artists are considering suing the RIAA."
http://consumerist.com/368663/riaa-pockets-filesharing-settlement-money-doesnt-pay-artists-whose-copyrights-were-infringed

This guy just doesn't know when to stop. Johnny Chung Lee graces us with yet another one of his inventive Wiimote projects. This time it involves using the Wiimote and a pair of inexpensive LED safety goggles (with the standard LED's replaced with InfraRed ones) to allow positional head tracking , achieving an effect similar to what is experienced with three dimensional displays and CAVE systems. The video dramatically illustrates the effect. Game developers take note. This simple little variation on infrared tracking could allow for some seriously immersive gameplay in the future.

http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/more-wiimote-hacks-head-tracking-hack.html
http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/more-wiimote-hacks-head-tracking-hack.html

Contrary to reports that Google "voluntarily" divulged the IP address of an Israeli blogger sued for defamation, the company says that it did so only when "required" by a court order.
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9824638-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Super Squirrel writes "Google is looking to both revolutionize and standardize online data storage with a new service that will allow users to store documents and media, and access it remotely from other machines anywhere in the world. However, Google could be directly in the sights of large media corporations for allowing users to share their media through speedy remote data storage access."
http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/11/27/googles-new-data-storage-service-defies-copyright-protection/

Controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson faces the start of an ethics trial this morning which could get him disbarred. Have we seen the end of his shenanigans, and is he finally going to see some long-overdue comeuppance?

blamanj writes "Three months ago, astronomers announced the discovery of a large hole at the edge of our universe. Now, Dr. Laura Mersini-Houghton thinks she knows what that means. (Subscription req'd at New Scientist site, there's also an overview here.) According to string theory, there are many universes besides our own. Her team says that smaller universes are positioned at the edge of our universe, and because of gravitational interactions, they can be observed, and they're willing to make a prediction. The recently discovered void is in the northern hemisphere. They contend another one will be found in the southern hemisphere."

In this new interview, Linus Torvalds is excited about solid-state drives, expects progress in graphics and wireless networking, and says the operating system is strong in virtualisation despite his personal lack of interest in the area.

From the article: "To get some perspective on what lies ahead in 2008, we caught up with Linus Torvalds via email. His responses touched on the Linux development process, upcoming features, and whether he's concerned about potential patent litigation."

Torvalds on Linux biggest strength: "When you buy an OS from Microsoft, not only you can't fix it, but it has had years of being skewed by one single entity's sense of the market. It doesn't matter how competent Microsoft — or any individual company — is, it's going to reflect that fact. In contrast, look at where Linux is used. Everything from cellphones and other small embedded computers that people wouldn't even think of as computers, to the bulk of the biggest machines on the supercomputer Top-500 list. That is flexibility. And it stems directly from the fact that anybody who is interested can participate in the development, and no single entity ends up being in control of where it all goes.

In the early 1900s, Edwin Hubble made the startling discovery that our Milky Way galaxy is not alone. It is just one of many galaxies, or "island universes," as Hubble dubbed them, swimming in the sea of space. Now, a century later, NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer is helping piece together the evolution of these cosmic species. Since its launch in 2003, the mission has surveyed tens of thousands of galaxies in ultraviolet light across nine billion years of time. The results provide new, comprehensive evidence for the "nurture" theory of galaxy evolution, which holds that the galaxies first described by Hubble -- the elegant spirals and blob-like ellipticals -- are evolutionarily linked.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071125181756.htm

In Friday's edition of "Dear Margo" (an advice column written by the daughter of Ann Landers), a reader asked if Yahoo! employees were reading her Yahoo! mail. Margo addressed the question with a quote from her boss, a Yahoo! News VP. He not only answered the question with doublespeak, but used it as an opportunity to disparage Google's Gmail.

netbuzz writes "Standing falsely accused of any crime — especially one as stigmatizing as possession of child pornography — is one of those frightening prospects we'd all rather not contemplate. That gets more difficult, however, as examples keep piling up. The latest case involves a British investigation that tied some 7,000 credit-card holders to distributors of child pornography. It's now believed that at least several hundred of those accounts were stolen and that the account holders were falsely accused.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1503 5"

Walter Wart writes "The founder of Nissin Foods, Momofuku Ando is dead at the age of 96. He is recognized as the inventor of instant noodles, Staff of Life for geeks and starving students the world over."