Nozsd - Slashdot User

Submission + - Rogers ISP Filtering -- The internet as cable

Submitted by rdavison on Monday December 10, 2007 @05:39PM

rdavison writes: With the recent flurry of items on ISP filtering, it is interesting to read Michael Geist's piece on How the Internet On Cable Became the Internet as Cable. He points out:
'The re-emergence of geographic borders on the Internet coincides with broadcasters finally jumping on the Internet bandwagon, as they race to make their content freely available online. ... the unmistakable trend is toward free, ad-supported streaming of content mere hours after it first appears on commercial television ... Comedy Central created a new site for the popular Daily Show that features a complete archive of eight years of programming.
Canadians, alas, are generally locked out of these sites due to licensing restrictions. Canadian broadcasters have been scrambling to buy the Internet rights to U.S. programming, both to protect their local broadcasts and to beef up their online presence. U.S. broadcasters may eventually decide it is more profitable to stream their content on a worldwide basis and to remove longstanding geographic restrictions, however, for the moment they are parceling up the Internet as they would a broadcast destined for multiple cable markets.
This geographic bordering extends beyond just blocking streamed content. The new Daily Show site is off-limits for Canadians since the U.S.-based Comedy Central recently took the unprecedented step of redirecting Canadian visitors to the CTV-owned Comedy Network site. '

Will ISP Web Content Filtering Continue To Grow? 239

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 10, 2007 @05:01PM from the altered-beast dept.

unixluv writes to tell us that another ISP is testing web content filtering and content substitution software. One example sees a system message that is pre-pended to an existing web page. While it seems innocent enough, is this the wave of the future? Will your ISP censor or alter your web experience at will? There have been many instances of content filtering lately and it seems to be a popular idea on the other side of the fence.

Submission + - How Much Unix Does Microsoft Own? 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 10, 2007 @04:20PM

An anonymous reader writes: In the wake of recent threats from Microsoft that Linux violates its patents, InfoWeek blogger John Foley attempted to find out just exactly how much Unix and open-source code Microsoft actually owns. Microsoft has a historical connection, via Xenix, its 25-year-old Unix clone, and Windows Services for Unix, which includes a Unix subsystem. But the trail quickly gets murky, because ownership of Xenix was transferred to the original SCO in 1987. It's also unclear whether Microsoft's 2004 deal with Sun resulted in any firm patent cross-licenses. Microsoft stonewalled Foley's requests for information, though one PR rep claimed that: "Microsoft has 65 patents in Linux GUIs, 15 patents in e-mail, 42 patents in Linux Kernel, 45 patents in Open Office, and 68 other patents that read on open source." Asks Foley: "Is Microsoft-patented code in Unix?, What Unix technologies does Microsoft continue to develop?, Where is Unix code used in Microsoft's own product line?" If it's threatening litigation, shouldn't Microsoft put up or shut up?

Submission + - Are you proud of your code? 6

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09, 2007 @07:35PM

An anonymous reader writes: I have a problem and I am hoping /. group therapy is the cure, so get on with the +5 comments, post haste! I am downright embarrassed by the quality of my work; specifically, my code. It is buggy, slow, fragile, and a nightmare to maintain. Documentation, requirements, automated tests? Does not exist. Do you feel the same way? If so, then what is holding you back from realizing your full potential? More importantly, what if anything are you planning to do about it? This picture, which many of you have already seen, captures several project failure modes. It would be humorous if it weren't so depressingly true. I enjoy programming and have from a young age (cut my teeth on BASIC on an Apple IIe). I have worked for companies large and small in a variety of languages and platforms. Sadly the one constant in my career is that I am assigned to projects that drift, seemingly aimlessly, from inception to a point where the client runs out of funding and the project is abandoned. Like many young and idealistic university graduates I hoped to spend my life programming passionately, but ten years later I look in the mirror and see a whore. I'm just doing it for the money. Have any developers here successfully lobbied their company to stop or cut back on 'cowboy coding' and adopt best practices? I'm not talking about the methodology-of-the-week, I'm referring to good old fashioned advice like keeping SQL out of the UI layer. For the big prize: has anyone convinced their superiors that the customer isn't always right and saying no once in awhile is the best course of action? Thanks in advance for your helpful advice.

MPAA Forced To Take Down University Toolkit 292

Posted by kdawson on Monday December 03, 2007 @10:05PM from the sauce-for-the-goose dept.

bobbocanfly writes "Ubuntu developer Matthew Garrett has succeeded in getting the MPAA to remove their 'University Toolkit' after claims it violated the GNU GPL. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the MPAA directly, Garrett eventually emailed the group's ISP and the violating software was taken down."

All US Border Crossings Now Require A 'Terrorist Risk Profile' 710

Posted by Zonk on Sunday December 02, 2007 @09:32PM from the just-wow dept.

conlaw writes with a somewhat intimidating Washington Post article. "The federal government disclosed details yesterday of a border-security program to screen all people who enter and leave the United States, create a terrorism risk profile of each individual and retain that information for up to 40 years ... The risk assessment is created by analysts at the National Targeting Center, a high-tech facility opened in November 2001 and now run by Customs and Border Protection. In a round-the-clock operation, targeters match names against terrorist watch lists and a host of other data to determine whether a person's background or behavior indicates a terrorist threat, a risk to border security or the potential for illegal activity. They also assess cargo."

Submission + - Evolution not as Plausible as Hell Say Americans (businesswire.com)

Submitted by Bagsc on Friday November 30, 2007 @03:53PM

Bagsc writes: It's official: America is going to hell. A new Harris poll this week shows that 62% of Americans believe in hell, while only 42% believe in the theory of natural selection. This is about the same proportion who believe in ghosts (41%) and creationism (39%). Do Americans just not believe in science? From the article: "While many of these numbers for people who hold these beliefs are the same or little changed from 2005, the overall trend is upwards with slightly more people believing in miracles, angels and witches than did so two years ago."

Submission + - TX Science Educator Fired - Was Non-Neutral re: ID (nytimes.com) 1

Submitted by

jeffporcaro

on Friday November 30, 2007 @03:26PM

jeffporcaro writes: "Texas' Director of Science Curriculum was "forced to step down" for favoring evolution over intelligent design (ID). She apparently circulated an e-mail that was critical of ID — although state regulations require her not to have any opinion "on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral." I hope they don't enforce the same kind of neutrality regarding heliocentricity or other scientific "debates.""

Submission + - NASA to scientists: Reveal sex history or lose job 1

Submitted by

Markmarkmark

on Wednesday November 28, 2007 @04:57PM

Markmarkmark writes: "Wired is reporting that all NASA JPL scientists must 'voluntarily' (or be fired) sign a document giving the government the right to investigate their personal lives and history 'without limit'. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists this includes snooping into sexual orientation, mental & physical health as well as credit history and 'personality conflict'. 28 senior NASA scientists and engineers, including Mars Rover team members, refused to sign by the deadline and are now subject to being fired despite a decade or more of exemplary service. None of them even work on anything classified or defense related. They are suing the government and documenting their fight for their jobs and right to personal privacy."

Submission + - Asus corrects Eee PC source code issue. (blue-gnu.biz)

Submitted by

ozmanjusri

on Wednesday November 28, 2007 @02:12AM

ozmanjusri writes: "Asus has corrected the availability of source code for its Eee PC, and reaffirmed its commitment to meeting the requirements of open source licenses, including the GPL.

They also announced the upcoming release of a new SDK to assist the Open Source community development on the Eee PC."

Submission + - NYTimes Editorial Says Science Is a Religion (nytimes.com) 1

Submitted by jeffporcaro on Saturday November 24, 2007 @10:12PM

jeffporcaro writes: Paul Davies writes a guest editorial in the NYTimes (sorry, but that's where it is) in which he shares his opinion that science is no better/no different than religion, since it forces its adherents to take items on faith. Examples he gives of faith-based science include our belief that the laws of physics will not change tomorrow and the idea that there are multiple universes — both are non-falsifiable and therefore no better than religious faith. Similarly, the fact that fundamental concepts are not fully explained (Why are the laws that regulate motion the way that they are? Who/what made them that way?) proves to him that science is based on a faulty, "deeply anti-rational" foundation. See here for full story.

Submission + - creationists violate copyright (blogspot.com)

Submitted by The_Rook on Saturday November 24, 2007 @08:44PM

The_Rook writes: the discovery institute copied Harvard University's BioVisions video, "The Inner Life of the Cell", stripped out Harvard's copyright notice, credits, and narration, and inserted their own creationist friendly narration and renamed the video "The Cell as an automated city". pretty insidious, as suggesting that a cell is like a city is to suggest that it was designed rather than evolved. it should also be of interest because the discovery institute, really more of a lawyer mill than a scientific institution, engaged in a particularly egregious example of copyright infringement.

Submission + - gcc says -10==10 (lkml.org) 6

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20, 2007 @03:12PM

An anonymous reader writes: A bug in gcc causes it to think -10*abs(x) and 10*abs(x) have the same value. Just compile the following small program:

int main( void )
{
int i=2;
if( -10*abs (i-1) == 10*abs(i-1) )
printf ("OMG,-10==10 in linux!\n");
else
printf ("nothing special here\n") ;
return 0 ;
}

Submission + - Free Software Found. reaches out to RIAA victims 2

Submitted by

NewYorkCountryLawyer

on Monday November 19, 2007 @01:51PM

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "In what has been termed the "the RIAA's worst nightmare", the Free Software Foundation has announced that it is coming to the aid of the victims of RIAA lawsuits, by establishing an Expert Witness Defense Fund to assist defendants in RIAA cases. The purpose of the fund is "to help provide computer expert witnesses to combat RIAA's ongoing lawsuits, and to defend against the RIAA's attempt to redefine copyright law." The funds will be used to pay fees and/or expenses of technical expert witnesses, forensic examiners, and other technical consultants assisting individuals named as defendants in non-commercial, peer-to-peer file sharing cases brought by the RIAA, EMI, SONY BMG, Vivendi Universal, and Warner Bros. Records, and their affiliated companies, such as Interscope, Arista, UMG, Fonovisa, Motown, Atlantic, Priority, and others."

Comcast Targets Unlicensed Anime Torrenters 352

Posted by Zonk on Monday November 19, 2007 @02:23AM from the hard-to-get-your-jpop-fix-without-it dept.

SailorSpork writes "According to a thread on the forums of AnimeSuki, a popular anime bittorent index site, Comcast has begun sending DCMA letters to customers downloading unlicensed fan-subtitled anime shows via bittorrent. By 'unlicensed', they mean that no english language company has the rights to it. The letters are claiming that the copyright holder or an authorized agent are making the infringement claims, though usually these requests are also sent to the site itself rather that individual downloaders. My question is have they really been in contact with Japanese anime companies, or is this another scare tactic by Comcast to try and reduce the bandwidth use of their heavier customers now that their previous tactics have come under legal fire?"

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