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The Courts

Submission + - Court Finds Calling Someone a "Terrorist" Online Is Non-Actionable Opinion

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Eric Goldman writes that after Town Board member Gail Soro of Wawayanda, NY discovered a severed horse head in her swimming pool in July 2006, community members started pointing fingers at each other over whodunit and although it was never determined who was responsible for the incident members of the community started posting accusations on blogs and newspaper websites. ""We all know who was behind the Horse Head . . . there is only one man around town dumb enough, violent enough and with a vendetta to do that . . . Dave LeBlanc . . . I hope all this negative publicity on him destroys his business," wrote one defendant. "Dave LeBlanc is a terrorist." In the modern post-9/11 era where we have sacrificed our liberty for the (usually false) perception of security, calling someone a "terrorist" is among the worst things you can do writes Goldman. However the court found that the "terrorist" epithet was "rhetorical hyperbole" and added that "readers give less credence to allegedly defamatory Internet communications than they would to statements made in other milieus." Still, the news isn't all good for the defendants. The court says it's still defamatory per se to assert that someone put a severed horse head in someone's pool, because "the accusation that the plaintiff placed a horse head in a political rival's pool, if true, describes conduct that would constitute serious crimes" so the court reserves dismissal of that claim."

Comment Re:http://leaverou.github.com/prefixfree/ - Fixed. (Score 1) 373

http://leaverou.github.com/prefixfree/

Break free from CSS prefix hell! Only 2KB gzipped -prefix-free lets you use only unprefixed CSS properties everywhere. It works behind the scenes, adding the current browser’s prefix to any CSS code, only when it’s needed.

Now why hasn't MS discovered this.

Comment Just move to Saskatchewan (Score 1) 419

SaskTel has unlimited data on all plans for high-speed. Only problem is that its still over copper/fibre to the node, and they've only just begun rolling out fibre to the home in select areas now. Until you get switched to it, you can't get any higher than a certain speed tier without dropping their IPTV service from the bundle (however, their IPTV service is pretty good; its based off the same hardware as AT&T U-verse)

Submission + - Rory McIlroy forgets his time zones, almost misses Ryder Cup start (golfchannel.com)

LiroXIV writes: Even professional golfers screw up logistics once in awhile; Rory McIlroy almost missed his tee time for his Ryder Cup singles match (arriving only 10 minutes before his scheduled start) after forgetting Medinah is in the Central Time Zone.

McIlroy somehow thought he was scheduled to tee off at 12:25 PM local time; while in reality, he was actually scheduled for 12:25 PM ET, which is 11:25 AM local time. Win or lose, this is subtle proof that even being an hour back can confuse you once in a while.

Comment The benefit? (Score 1) 566

The benefit is that it gives us proof that Fox News is constantly making dumb editorial decisions. They are performing a public service, mainly because people enjoy watching the mass media goof up, especially if it involves Fox News.

Comment Re:Next on FOX: Open source is now a crime (Score 1) 343

What kind of stupid reporting is this, to make a suggestion that this is (1) open source is a movement, which (2) commits acts of terrorism and (3) will occur more often? The suggestion sounds awfully rhetorical, and will probably be picked up by some retarded right wing news agency.

First of all, the guy had everything backed up. No damage done, just some inconvenience.

Secondly, America is not a democracy - they just claim to be one, just like Iran. So attacking a US politician is certainly not an attack on democracy itself.

And remember that one teacher who said there is no such thing as free software? She's right, you know /sarcasm

IOS

Submission + - Apple's iOS 6 Maps app is awful, and now the world knows it (bgr.com)

zacharye writes: People who have been using beta versions of iOS 6 for the past few months have known how awful Apple’s new Maps app is, but for the most part they held out hope that the company would make some serious refinements by the time its new iOS 6 software was released to the public. But iOS 6 officially took flight on Wednesday and sadly, Apple’s new Maps app is still awful...
Businesses

Submission + - Dice Holdings buys Slashdot and other Geeknet websites for $20M (yahoo.com) 3

Angostura writes: Dice Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that it acquired Geeknet Inc.'s online media business, including its Slashdot and SourceForge websites, for $20 million in cash.
The New York-based careers website company said the acquisition of the technology websites is part of its strategy of providing content and services geared toward technology professionals.

Submission + - Stock up on Windows 7?

Neilrahc writes: With Windows 8 about to release, I'm concerned about 7 continuing to be available. If I want OEM versions should I get extra copies now to anticipate MS only printing 8 going forward? Secondly, if I get corporate-licensed 8 will that probably allow downloads of 7 as well?
Android

Submission + - Canada to Samsung: Who Stole Our Jelly Beans? (mobilesyrup.com)

LiroXIV writes: While American owners of Google and Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone have been feasting on the newest version of Android, users up north in Canada have been stuck in the land of Ice Cream Sandwich. Samsung's regional divisions handle OTA updates for Galaxy Nexus phones sold abroad. Many of these phones in Canada only began receiving an OTA update to the almost year-old 4.0.2 last Friday, and with reports of a user who sent his phone in for repair and received his phone back with a build of Android 4.1.1 sourced from Samsung Canada, Canucks are wondering where the hold-up is.

While its easy for the adventurous to simply flash a system image that receives updates straight from Google, some would prefer the much safer and easier option of an OTA update. Even more ironic is the fact that Canadian-sold Nexus S phones DID receive Jelly Bean as an OTA update.

Submission + - New Engineering Research Center at UT Receives $18.5M Grant (texanpost.com)

mikajones29 writes: The National Science Foundation announced today that it will award $18.5 million to the University of Texas for a new engineering research center whose charge is to parlay advances in nanoscience into such innovations as implantable medical devices and flexible laptop computers that wouldn’t be damaged if dropped.

Submission + - Primes cycle around 42n? I need answers.

Cogent91 writes: "For all it's curiosity, the number 42 remains an honest mystery. From ancient Buddhists to Douglas Adams, it's held a significant place for ages. But why?

Some years ago I came across a pattern in that 42n plus individually the primes from 1 to 41 and also 25 creates a list of all possible primes. It's seemingly simple, but I've never found a single academic reference to this pattern. I've also checked it with scripts to several million primes, no exceptions.

What is it that makes that limited range hold true for all prime numbers? And is there an academic significance for this? I've been asking for years, but I'd love Slashdot's help in finally getting this answered!

After n=0, the relevant base is 1,5,11,13,17,19,23,25,29,31,37,41. 2,3, & 7 never repeat. Also, pushed into binaries it makes a great way to compress arbitrarily large primes! The programmer in me wonders about that trait's usefulness to cryptography..."

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