jkyrlach - Slashdot User

The Home-Built Dark Knight Batmobile 87

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 27, 2010 @10:49AM from the taking-the-little-jokers-to-school dept.

ElectricSteve writes "RM Auctions recently declared James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 to be 'the world's most famous car,' but there's no doubt that there is another contender for that title — the Batmobile. One thing that muddies the waters a bit is the fact that the term 'Batmobile' actually describes at least three different vehicles: the modified Lincoln Futura concept car from the '60s TV series, the vaguely Corvette-shaped 1989-and-beyond movie cars, and now the car from the most recent two movies, the military-spec Tumbler. Michigan-based movie props artist Bob Dullam really likes the Tumbler, so he did what any of us would do in his position — he built one of his own from scratch."

Comment My guess: The engineers got wasted... (Score 1) 488

by jkyrlach on Monday September 20, 2010 @08:37PM (#33644014) Attached to: Airbus Planning Transparent Planes

and then went on a STNG marathon... The next morning, they had nothing prepared so they just pulling the fragments out of their ass that had gotten lodged there from the previous night's activities... it's not like any of the suits would have recognized the OBVIOUS references to the show. I mean, what engineer would add awesome holographic projectors AND clear ceilings? Just project the milky way and be done with it. I guess promising just to upgrade the in-flight movie was not futurgery enough for them. On a related note: you don't need fancy ceramics to create the illusion of transparent. There's technology currently available to make pretty good invisible cloaks.I would just use that.

Project Natal Pricing and Release Date Revealed 156

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday May 27, 2010 @06:28AM from the not-cheap dept.

tekgoblin writes "According to Edge-online.com, their source says that we can expect Microsoft's Project Natal to cost around $149. 'The figure for the standalone unit is significantly higher than a previous sub-£50 estimate, but less than pricing recently suggested by European retailers. It’s also more expensive than Sony’s Natal rival, Move, which will be available later this year with a game for less than $100.'"

New Call of Duty Titles Announced, Fired Devs Sue For Name 134

Posted by Soulskill on Friday March 05, 2010 @08:44AM from the modern-legal-warfare dept.

eldavojohn writes "Activision has announced new Call of Duty titles while fired Infinity Ward Developer leads Jason West and Vince Zampella sue them for the rights to the name. According to Activision, 'The company intends to expand the Call of Duty brand with the same focus seen in its Blizzard Entertainment business unit. This will include a focus on high-margin digital online content and further[ing] the brand as the leading action entertainment franchise in new geographies, new genres and with new digital business models.' Ars opines that Activision is set to over-saturate the market with tons of CoD titles similar to how it expertly brought down Guitar Hero."

Funeral Being Held Today For IE6 194

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday March 04, 2010 @12:44PM from the good-riddance dept.

An anonymous reader writes "More than 100 people, many of them dressed in black, are expected to gather around a coffin Thursday to say goodbye to an old friend. The deceased? Internet Explorer 6. The aging Web browser, survived by its descendants Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8, is being eulogized at a tongue-in-cheek 'funeral' hosted by Aten Design Group, a design firm in Denver, Colorado."

xkcd, Devotion To Duty 167

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 22, 2010 @12:39PM from the a-different-breed dept.

xkcd really hit the nail on the head today.

Submission + - UK ID card service footguns with online ad 2

Submitted by Aim Here on Friday January 08, 2010 @12:37PM

Aim Here writes: According to The Register, a new Flash advertisement for the controversial identity card system from the UK government's Identity and Passport service shows exactly how the card could be used by a tyrannical government. The ad shows a number of cartoon fingerprints claiming to be 'Spartacus', until the real ringleader gets singled out, presumably for crucifixion, by his identity card. One wonders how the obvious message 'Identity cards will make the world safe for slavery and government tyranny' was lost on the makers, or if the anti-cards pressure group 'No2ID' could have made better anti-card propaganda if they tried.

Submission + - Being penalized by employer for Facebook entry 2

Submitted by jkyrlach on Friday January 08, 2010 @12:37PM

jkyrlach writes: A friend of mine recently got written up by his employer for posting the following comment on his/her Facebook page: "I'm either a really well paid technical support person or a really poorly paid Integration Engineer. Either way, my new motto is 'Have you tried turning it off and back on again?' (from The IT Crowd)." I don't understand how this type of penalization can be legal. This friend lives in OH. Any recommendation, especially those of you with legal expertise, on what my friend should do? Isn't this a violation of his/her freedom of speech?

Submission + - The top ten techs to look forward to in 2010 (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by Barence on Friday January 08, 2010 @11:57AM

Barence writes: Another year, another CES with a couple of overwhelming themes — this year seemingly slate PCs and 3D — but what else might be the big movers in 2010? PC Pro makes its annual list of the techs it sees making a difference this year, as well as looking back with a critical eye at last year's predictions.

Submission + - India to get new copy-right laws (medianama.com) 1

Submitted by

prayag

on Monday January 04, 2010 @05:28AM

prayag writes: "India, is supposed to introduce a new copyright law. Despite opposition from broadcasters, the Indian government has approved the introduction of a bill to amend the Copyright Act of 1957 in a far-reaching step that will give artists and musicians protection, long overdue recognition and locus standi. According to the government's communique, the "Amendment is proposed to give independent rights to authors of literary and musical works in cinematograph films, which were hitherto denied and wrongfully exploited, by the producers and music companies."

The amendments are in line with international treaties such as the WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. Though India has not signed either treaty as yet, it is trying to align its laws with them."

Submission + - Privacy Issues Of Data Collecting (net-security.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 04, 2010 @05:20AM

An anonymous reader writes: Will 2010 see the beginning of a change in regulations regarding net privacy? It's hard to tell. The issue has been a matter for dispute for quite some time now, but there have been no significant steps toward dealing with it and the "enemy" is strong: money. The simple fact is that advertising is what makes free content possible. And, if we look at it from the marketers point of view, we can't but agree that they have to get something in return. But, looking at it from our common user perspective, we feel a little naked, a little vulnerable knowing that someone out there can use the gathered information to steer us towards choices we may wish we hadn't.

Comment Although heavy on subterfuge... (Score 2, Interesting) 252

by jkyrlach on Monday November 02, 2009 @01:59AM (#29947794) Attached to: Find DARPA's Balloons, Win $40K

I'd be willing to bet that it's actually an attempt to encourage probing/attacks on it's website /network. $40k is a pretty good incentive to try and find the answer sheet. Possible goals range from your traditional smoke-out-the-troublemakers-by-having-an-archery-contest to using it to identify skilled individuals for recruitment.

Comment Reminds me of a certain Redmond Company... (Score 4, Interesting) 171

by jkyrlach on Friday October 02, 2009 @03:39PM (#29620435) Attached to: Can IBM Take On Google, Microsoft With iNotes?

Lotus Notes makes it clear where MS got their evil genes from. Because Lotus notes was released as both email client and MS Access equivalent, companies that adopteded it have found themselves hopelessly locked in. In the spirit of "getting things done" my company has allowed its users to create thousands of apps in our Notes system, making it impossible to ever switch to anything else. IBM has nice reliable income, and employees everywhere suffer.

Comment Why keep it external? (Score 1) 196

by jkyrlach on Tuesday September 01, 2009 @01:12PM (#29275425) Attached to: Augmented Reality In a Contact Lens

Why worry about getting a lot of graphics onto a small surface. Let's focus on the optical version of a cochlear implant. Just graft into the existing data stream and overlay extra information. We will need this technology anyway to help the blind, might as well get it developed and over with.

Comment Important Ingrediants for Terraforming (Score 1) 442

by jkyrlach on Friday March 16, 2007 @10:39AM (#18374753) Attached to: Enormous Amount of Frozen Water Found on Mars

IMHO, the problem of terraforming lies not so much with current supplies (although it makes it much easier if these are not scarce) but with the planetary supplies of the materials for water, namely hydrogen and oxygen. Remember, water accumulation is accomplished through various geological and biological processes. One way water is formed/accumulated is through the formation of new plant and animal organisms. Introduce a population capable of thriving without off-world supplies, and the process of water accumulation will begin. This route is a little on the slow side, but it is much more economical than attempting to transport water in from off-world.

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