Comment Re:Candice side (Score 1) 667
Heh. Actually, he'd done that, to that same photo, a while ago...
Comment Bad forecast (Score 1) 383
A forecast from 2 years ago might have assumed Flash Lite getting onto more mobile platforms than it has. The iPhone & iPod Touch, for example, certainly take a decent chunk of the mobile market at the moment, and neither can run Flash.
Comment Re:Copyright, trademark, patent (Score 1) 229
And, to be more complete, a "copywright" is the guy who works in a copy shop making copies. Like a shipwright builds ships and a playwright writes plays.
(I need to get "copywright" into publication at some point so the OED will finally recognize my mad genius!)
Comment IERS (Score 1) 255
Damn. I've been following the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) emails for years and this one managed to slip into my spam filter. Thanks slashdot! for making sure I didn't miss it this year!!!
(A great bonding moment with my father was counting along to 61 with the atomic clock signal on the short wave while sitting by the sundial at the local science museum...)
Comment Re:no photography policy (Score 4, Informative) 743
Actually, if you RTFA, the museum had explicitly made a big deal about how they were opening up more to photographers. Both the museum's website and a senior museum employee had confirmed such with the photographer. But one power-mad guy in charge of visitor relations, or somesuch, got on his high horse and shut the photographer down.
Keep in mind, this was photography in the open atrium of the museum lobby... not pictures of individual pieces in the museum's collection.
Database Finds Fugitive After 35 Years 459
Hugh Pickens writes "The Guardian has a story on a woman who was claims she is innocent and was apprehended 35 years after escaping prison by a computer database created by the Department of Homeland Security. Linda Darby was convicted of killing her husband in 1970 and sentenced to life at an Indiana prison but escaped two years later by climbing over a barbed-wire fence at the Indiana Women's Prison. She knocked on a stranger's door in Indianapolis, telling the woman who answered that her cuts and scratches were from a fight with her boyfriend. In Indianapolis she met the man who would become her third husband and moved to his hometown of Pulaski, where they raised their two children and watched eight grandchildren grow up. As Linda Jo McElroy, she used a similar date of birth and social security number to her real ones which allowed a computer database created by the Department of Homeland Security to identify her. Darby says she is innocent and fled prison because she did not want to serve time for another person's crime."
Another Battery Fire in AT&T's Network 48
An anonymous reader writes "AT&T has disclosed another fire started by one of the 17,000 Avestor batteries in its broadband network. The first fire caused a violent explosion in suburban Houston. This second incident occurred just 20 miles away."
RIAA Going After a 10-Year-Old Girl 510
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The latest target of the RIAA's ire is a 10-year-old girl in Oregon, who was 7 when the alleged infringement occurred, and whose disabled mother lives on Social Security. In Atlantic v. Andersen, an Oregon case that was widely reported in 2005 when the defendant counterclaimed against the RIAA under Oregon's RICO statute and other laws, the defendant's mother sought to limit the RIAA's deposition of the child to telephone or video-conference. The RIAA has refused, insisting on being able to grill the little girl in person. Here are court documents (PDF)."
Submission + - Apple TV Starts Shipping Today
techitout writes: According to Jim Dalrymple of Macworld, the Apple TV began shipping today:
Apple told customers that the Apple TV is now shipping, say several readers and a staffer of Macworld who had pre-ordered the device. While delivery times vary, most units are expected to be delivered by the end of this week.
Analysts are musing that this will be an even bigger opportunity than the iPhone (maybe not generate the same amount of fan-fare, but likely stronger long-term profitability).
Apple told customers that the Apple TV is now shipping, say several readers and a staffer of Macworld who had pre-ordered the device. While delivery times vary, most units are expected to be delivered by the end of this week.
Analysts are musing that this will be an even bigger opportunity than the iPhone (maybe not generate the same amount of fan-fare, but likely stronger long-term profitability).
Submission + - Controversial Skywalk in place over Grand Canyon
AustinSlacker writes: "CNN is reporting that the Grand Canyon Skywalk is opening today. "The Skywalk, which will be unveiled Tuesday, is being touted as an engineering marvel. The glass-and-steel horseshoe extends 70 feet beyond the canyon's edge with no visible supports above or below."
The glass-floored Skywalk allows visitors to peer 4,000 feet (1220 meters) down into the canyon. The caveat? Each visitor must pay $25.00 (USD) PLUS addition fees to get to the viewing area. I guess the $25 will help defray the cleaning costs when weak-stomached folks lose their lunch upon realizing they are standing in mid-air over a 4,000 foot drop, a-la Wile E. Coyote..."
The glass-floored Skywalk allows visitors to peer 4,000 feet (1220 meters) down into the canyon. The caveat? Each visitor must pay $25.00 (USD) PLUS addition fees to get to the viewing area. I guess the $25 will help defray the cleaning costs when weak-stomached folks lose their lunch upon realizing they are standing in mid-air over a 4,000 foot drop, a-la Wile E. Coyote..."
Submission + - Mac Dev tool to support Wii game creation
frenchy64 writes: "Over the Edge has announced that their Mac-based Unity game development tool will be able to create games for the Nintendo Wii console later this year.
So in theory at least, one can design, build and test a game entirely on the Mac, and then go to Nintendo with a finished game to apply for a devkit. And once you have the devkit it should be just a matter of packaging it for the Wii!
That is a really cool way to go, very nice idea."
The Assassination of Wi-Fi 258
justelite writes "John C. Dvorak from PC Magazine has up an article looking at the new strategy of American cell-phone-service companies. From article: 'There is mounting evidence that the cellular service companies are going to do whatever they can to kill Wi-Fi. After all, it is a huge long-term threat to them. We've seen that the route to success in America today is via public gullibility and general ignorance. And these cell-phone-service companies are no dummies.'"
T-Mobile Bans Others' Apps On Their Phones 349
cshamis writes "T-Mobile has recently changed their policies and now tell their customers with appropriate data plans and with Java-Micro-App-capable T-Mobile phones: no third-party network applications. You can, of course, still use their incredibly clunky and crippled built-in WAP browsers, but GoogleMaps and OperaMini are left high and dry. Would anyone care to speculate if this move is likely to retain or repel customers?"
Microsoft Retracts Patent 182
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has retracted their recent controversial patent application. The story was first brought to light by Slashdot on Saturday. Today, Jane Prey of Microsoft announced the retraction on the SIGCSE (Special Interest in Computer Science Education) mailing list. 'Many thanks to the members of the community that brought this to my attention — and here's the latest. The patent application was a mistake and one that should not have happened. To fix this, Microsoft will be removing the patent application. Our sincere apologies to Michael Kölling and the BlueJ community.'"
The Twilight Years of Cap'n Crunch 313
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Tech pioneer John Draper, a legendary, eccentric figure in Silicon Valley better known as Cap'n Crunch, has slipped to the margins while his peers became rich, the Wall Street Journal writes in a profile. Draper was a 'phone phreak' and helped develop the technology for word processing and voice-activated telephone menus; meanwhile, he eluded the mainstream by tampering with the phone system, frequenting the rave scene and shouting at anyone smoking anywhere near him. 'Once tolerated, even embraced, for his eccentricities, Mr. Draper now lives on the margins of this affluent world, still striving to carve out a role in the business mainstream,' says the WSJ. More from the article: 'Contemporaries who've gone on to riches and fame say they've tried to help Mr. Draper over the years. Mr. Wozniak says Mr. Draper's problem is that his skills lie in technology rather in making business deals or starting a company. "He didn't come from a business orientation," says Mr. Wozniak.'"
