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Comment Re:Restraint of trade (Score 1) 277

Governments who make purchases using public funds (i.e. tax dollars) are usually required to go through some purchasing process which generally makes them choose the vendor that meets their minimum requirements and has the lowest price. In this case I would say the whole "not affiliated with nuclear weapons development" rule is probably one of these minimum requirements.

Comment Re:Biased much? (Score 1) 302

I think this might be the study he was talking about (percentages are slightly different, but close). It does say the reason why the values don't add up to 100 is because some people have multiple tablets but I agree, this does seem kind of high. It may be because people don't tend to toss/sell their old tablet when they buy their new one. I know my dad still has his original iPad even though he already bought a new iPad3.
Games

Submission + - Big Finish Games Bringing Back Full-Motion Video Adventure Games (joystiq.com)

Mr. Jaggers writes: "Widely remembered as the pioneers in Full-Motion Video adventure gaming, the creators of the beloved Tex Murphy futuristic neo-noir series of adventure games has successfully funded their latest installment, code named Project Fedora, via crowd-funding. The team conducted a successful AMA last week and will feature much of the original cast of characters (including game designer Chris Jones, as Tex himself), and, if his interest can be peaked, the voice talents of James Earl Jones, among others. It ought to be a real treat for fans of gritty hard-boiled detective stories who like their sci-fi dark and dystopian, to see an FMV game done right, by one of the only developers to have pulled it off well. Pre-orders are being taken here and here."
Facebook

Submission + - Inside Facebook data mining research group (technologyreview.com)

holy_calamity writes: "Technology Review has an in depth profile of the team at Facebook tasked with figuring out what can be learned from all our data. The Data Science Team mine that information trove both in the name of scientific research into the patterns of human behavior and to advance Facebook's understanding of its users. Facebook's ad business gets the most public attention, but the company's data mining technology may have a greater effect on its destiny — and users lives."

Comment Re:Awesome! (Score 1) 540

I don't think that would work. The reason people bot is to get gold and loot which, thanks to Blizzard, they can now sell for real money. People who bot aren't going to buy any of that stuff, only legitimate players with far too much money on their hands.

By the way, does anyone else think this real money auction house has the potential to be used for money laundering? I mean once the money has been "converted" to gold, I doubt it is tracked all that well. Maybe I'm just paranoid?

Comment Re:What's bad for Best Buy is good for local store (Score 1) 322

I'd like to think so. Here in Canada Best Buy hasn't been around that long but Future Shop (which is now owned by the same company) has, and they have been treating customers like crap for decades. As a result, a lot of people started going to the computer shop which used to be just up the street from my place. In fact, so many people started going there that they opened a new location. Then they opened another, and another. Now they have 14 locations in BC and Ontario as well as website where you can buy any of their products online, or check stock quantities if you prefer and in-store purchase.

Comment Re:Grilling steak (Score 1) 169

Yep, you should always use high heat and let your steak rest after it is cooked. It is also important to only flip your steak once. Some people go flip crazy and do it lots, this will make your steak tough and rubbery. After you flip it, you can tell how well it's cooked by touching it with your finger (it shouldn't be hot enough to burn you). If it feels like your forehead then it is well-done, if it is like your chin then it is medium and if it is like your cheeks then it is rare.

Comment Re:Thank Goodness! (Score 1) 158

I'm all for bashing KoA because of the DRM, but a lot of people (myself included) actually liked the game. It has excellent action RPG combat and a gigantic world to explore with hundreds of quests to complete. Yes, the average rating wasn't in the 90% range, but most of the reviews were legitimately decent. If it weren't for the dick move on the DRM, I think a lot of people here might actually like this game.
Google

Submission + - Iran threatens legal action against Google for not labeling Persian Gulf (cnn.com)

PantherSE writes: From the article:
Iran has threatened legal action against Google for not labeling the Persian Gulf on its maps.
"Toying with modern technologies in political issues is among the new measures by the enemies against Iran, (and) in this regard, Google has been treated as a plaything," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Thursday, according to state-run Press TV.
He added that "omitting the name Persian Gulf is (like) playing with the feelings and realities of the Iranian nation."

Google

Submission + - Judge to Oracle's attorney: I can code - can you? (law.com)

RemyBR writes: "One month into the Oracle v. Google judgement, judge Alsup said this to Oracle's attorney David Boies: "You're one of the best lawyers in America. I don't know how you could make that argument", in response to Boies' claim that the tiny amount of computer code Google has been found liable for infringing helped it get the Android mobile operating system to market sooner, therefore Oracle should be entitled to a slice of the profits.
He then proceeded to reveal his own personal knowledge of the technology in question. Alsup said he has personally written computer code, not in the Java language involved in the lawsuit, but in other languages. And rangeCheck, he said of the nine lines of infringed Java code that Google said it mistakenly put in a version of Android, "is so simple." — "I could do it. You could do it," the judge told Boies. "It was an accident.""

AI

Submission + - Apple Tells Siri To Stop Recommending Nokia (techweekeurope.co.uk)

judgecorp writes: "Apple has changed the answer Siri gives to the question "what is the best smartphone ever?’ to prevent the voice-driven assistant from promoting the Nokia Lumia 900. Originally Siri trawled online reviews on the web using the wolfram Alpha search engine, to come up with the Lumia, much to Apple's embarassment. Now, apple has intervened, replacing that answer with a joke: “Wait there are other phones?”"
Canada

Submission + - Huawei to help build Canadian Telecom infrastructure. (www.cbc.ca)

newbie_fantod writes: Despite warnings from Canadian, American and Australian intelligence services, The Government of Canada is proudly trumpeting the contracts it has helped broker between Huawei and its national telcos.

Huawei will be providing the LTE networks for Telus, Bell and SaskTel (Telus, Canada's second largest telco, is also under contract to provide secure wireless communication for The Canadian Armed Forces).

Ironically, the technology Huawei provides may well have been developed from R&D stolen from Nortel (the Canadian company whose computer network was open — for a decade — to hackers originating in China).

Comment Re:Can someone explain to me (Score 5, Interesting) 684

It is not just the NFL. The NHL had three player suicides this summer alone. All three of these players were enforcer type players who routinely fought to earn their salaries. The link between professional athletes getting hit in the head a lot and the issues you described is getting hard to deny.
GNOME

Submission + - Tablet UIs on Laptops/Desktops: What's Slashdot's Readers' take? (ubuntu.com) 1

dcbrianw writes: I want to know the Slashdot's community's take on the new trend of desktop and laptop operating system developers moving towards tablet based UI's. Ubuntu has moved to Unity. Windows 8 will have such a UI. Even Gnome 3 looks tablet based. You can revert to Gnome classic, but it's very minimal in comparison Gnome 2.

If I'm not using a tablet, I don't want my computer to operate as though I am. I'm just not sold on this, and I want my old UI back (without having to use earlier, less advanced OS'). What are others' takes on this? Am I missing some of the pros associated with a tablet UI on non-tablet devices?

Hardware

Submission + - $36 000 worth of (unattended) MacBooks destroyed by urine in Pennsylvania (dailymail.co.uk)

An anonymous reader writes: An 11-year-old Pennsylvania boy has been charged after urinating on $36,000 worth of Apple MacBook computers, owned by his school.

Local police were called to Upper Allen Elementary School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday after teachers discovered the boy had relieved himself on around 30 laptops.

The expensive technology, which had been sitting unattended on a cart in a school hallway, was 'damaged beyond repair', police said.

  Boy 11 destroys 36 000 worth of MacBooks with ..... URINE! Whoever would think that leaving 36 000 worth of MacBooks unattended could led to trouble?

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