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Comment If there's anything left to save... (Score 5, Interesting) 15

by RAVasquez (#57141432) Attached to: Amazon In Running To Acquire Landmark Movie Chain

Maybe, just maybe, Amazon decided to do something right by the people of Seattle. Before Mark Cuban took over, Landmark was the best movie chain in town, with a whole suite of indie-minded theaters all over town; now, they're nearly all shut down, awaiting for the inevitable condos to sprout up over their ruins. I've been longing for some deep-pocketed local to pick up the Harvard Exit or Guild 45th and get them running again, as a hobby if not a major business opportunity.
Google

Thousands of Fake Google Maps Listings Redirect Users To Fraudulent Sites (bleepingcomputer.com) 36

Posted by BeauHD from the hook-line-and-sinker dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: Tens of thousands of fake listings are added to Google Maps each month, redirecting users to fraudulent websites selling phony or overpriced services, or are part of some referral scam. Researchers say that 74% of these abusive listings were for local businesses in the U.S. and India, mainly in pockets around certain local hotspots, especially in large metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Houston, or Los Angeles. In most cases, the scheme was simple. A customer in need of a locksmith or electrician would search Google Maps for a local company. If he navigated to the website of a fake business or called its number, a call center operator posing as the business' representative would send over an unaccredited contractor that would charge much more than regular professionals. If a customer's situation were urgent, the contractor would often charge more than the initial agreed upon price. Researchers said that 40.3% of all the listings for fake companies they found focused on on-call services, such as locksmiths, plumbers, and electricians, and were for customers who were desperate to resolve issues. Further, overall, operators of fake listings managed to hijack 0.5% of Google Maps' outbound traffic for the studied period.
Businesses

Report: Apple Watch Preorders Almost 1 Million On First Day In the US 290

Posted by samzenpus from the i-want-i-stuff dept.
An anonymous reader writes The launch of the Apple Watch has got off to a good start, with an estimated 1 million pre-orders in the U.S. on Friday. "According to Slice's Sunday report, which is based on e-receipt data obtained directly from consumers, 957,000 people preordered the Watch on Friday, with 62% purchasing the cheapest variant, the Apple Watch Sport. On average, each buyer ordered 1.3 watches and spent $503.83 per watch."

Comment User error (Score 1) 361

by RAVasquez (#45667087) Attached to: How long do your computer mice last?

My mice would last much longer if I could resist the urge to smack them against the monitor whenever my computer slows down. I know perfectly well that the mouse is blameless, but my lizard brain needs to SMASH something.
Cellphones

Samsung Ups Ante In Smartphone Size Wars: 6.3 Inches 221

Posted by timothy from the don't-mean-to-brag-but dept.
New submitter jarold writes to note that Samsung has launched two extra-large cellphones: a 6.3 inch LTE ready version, and a 5.8 inch version. "Branded as Galaxy Mega, one would struggle to fit [either in a] pocket or use it with just one hand. The good thing, it is only 8mm thin and weighs under 200 grams. More portable than a tablet, it comes with a durable polycarbonate body. Unlike most of Samsung's latest smartphones, it does not have a super AMOLED panel. Instead, it has an HD super clear LCD display, which is bright enough to please most users. It features split screen and multitasking between video and other apps." For a phone that big, users might need to brush up on their side-talking skills.
Earth

Heartland Institute Threatens To Sue Anyone Who Comments On Leaked Documents 517

Posted by samzenpus from the stop-talking dept.
Layzej writes "Bloggers around the world have been commenting on recently leaked Heartland Institute documents that reveal their internal strategies to discredit climate science. These posters are now under threat of legal action. According to the Heartland Institute 'the individuals who have commented so far on these documents did not wait for Heartland to confirm or deny the authenticity of the documents. We believe their actions constitute civil and possibly criminal offenses for which we plan to pursue charges and collect payment for damages'"

Comment Re:"No ecosystem" (Score 1) 280

by marmoset (#37178564) Attached to: Android On HP TouchPad

I keep all of my O’Reilly books and my company’s own documentation on my iPad. Very handy in my line of work (I’m frequently onsite with customers and need quick access to technical documentation, and I often don’t have access to the Internet from a customer’s network.) Yes, I could use my laptop but the iPad is simple much more convenient in a lot of situations (e.g. I’m sitting at someone else’s desk and can comfortably read from it without having to clear any space on the customer’s desk)
Android

RMS On Header Files and Derivative Works 247

Posted by timothy from the but-I-said-'a'-first dept.
tomhudson writes "In this email from 2003, Richard Stallman says 'I've talked with our lawyer about one specific issue that you raised: that of using simple material from header files. Someone recently made the claim that including a header file always makes a derivative work. That's not the FSF's view. Our view is that just using structure definitions, typedefs, enumeration constants, macros with simple bodies, etc., is NOT enough to make a derivative work. It would take a substantial amount of code (coming from inline functions or macros with substantial bodies) to do that.' This should help end the recent FUD about the Android 'clean headers.'"
Government

Iran Launches Cyber-Police Units 45

Posted by Soulskill from the defending-against-stuxnet-and-freedom dept.
Khopesh writes "Iran is implementing a cyber police force to combat social networks and similar sources of 'espionage and riots.' This will likely result in more control over internet access than efforts that might hinder attacks like Stuxnet. 'Ahmadi Moghaddam said that Iran's cyber police will take on the "anti-revolutionary" dissident groups that used online social networks to organize protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad following disputed elections held in 2009. "Through these very social networks in our country, anti-revolutionary groups and dissidents found each other and contacted foreign countries and triggered riots," said Ahmadi Moghaddam, referring to the protests that took place at the time.'"

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