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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 27 declined, 4 accepted (31 total, 12.90% accepted)

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Submission + - EA shuts down more online only games, continues to be oblivious (pcworld.com)

Submitted by onyxruby
onyxruby writes: EA shutdown another round of less profitable games today, including a variation of Sim City. These games could only be accessed by playing online and no offline mode will be made available to players. Real world money that was spent by players on the game for adds on will be lost with only two months left to spend it or lose it.

EA continues to be oblivious as to why online only requirements to play games like Sim City are a significant issue and refuses to change their policy. Perhaps it takes people who are not traditional gamers getting screwed over by the publishers to change an otherwise apathetic public's mind over the issue?

Submission + - Microsoft salvaging Windows 8, restoring boot direct to destop and start button? (zdnet.com)

Submitted by onyxruby
onyxruby writes: Rumors have abounded today Microsoft may be trying to salvage Windows 8 and is testing the restoration of the start button and the ability to boot directly to the desktop. Both of these design decisions have been widely criticized with many people openly blaming these choices for the previously unheralded downfall of the desktop market itself. Even Windows Vista had a higher deployment rate than Windows 8 has had and enterprises made very clear that absolutely would not deploy Windows 8 until these issues were resolved. Hopefully Microsoft finally listened to the markets (PC manufacturers, enterprises and consumers) and will never again make such a foolish decision.
Space

Submission + - Comet delivered microfossil supports Panspermia (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by
onyxruby
onyxruby writes: "On December 29th of last year a comet exploded over Sri Lanka. When examined by Cardiff University one of the comet samples was found to contain micro-fossils akin to plankton. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center tested additional samples with similar results. The research paper was published in the Journal of Cosmology.

In practice this means that the argument that life did not start on Earth has gained additional evidence."
Verizon

Submission + - Poor quality control from Verizon, 11 bad cell phones in one year

Submitted by
onyxruby
onyxruby writes: "I have been through a total of 11 (not a typo) defective cell phones from Verizon in one year. I have had cell phone after cell phone sent out to me and require replacement although all but the first one was 'certified like new'. The problem is that the warranty refurbished cell phones have been put through very poor quality control with problems that never should have been put back into production.

I have had cell phones sent out to me with a defective power button, one that wouldn't charge the battery, several with bad antennas, more than one that was unusable the day I received it, phones with screens that would blank out and several that were completely unstabile. The point being that the phones would fail for different reasons, and could always be verified by a third party (I wasn't abusing them).

I had so many problems the technical rep at my local store recognizes me by face. I had phones that the very day I got them they could not get a signal from the tower laying on the counter in the Verizon store. I went through more than one model as a certain model kept failing on me and eventually a new model was offered to alleviate my problems. Every time I did this I had to buy a new protective case and screen covers. At one point I actually went through three defective cell phones in a single week.

After a solid year of problem after problem I was finally allowed an early upgrade by 6 months to an actual 'new' phone and about $120 in credit for my hassle. I have lost far more than this on cases and covers and time and have had to call back in to chase down my credits multiple times. Is Verizon being reasonable or is this par for the course treatment for customers today?"
Microsoft

Submission + - What's happening at Microsoft? (theinquirer.net)

Submitted by
onyxruby
onyxruby writes: "Has Microsoft completely lost it's way? For years they dominated as no other company, even taking over from IBM. However Microsoft has lost their vision that made them the once dominant force in the market. Microsoft has been desperately afraid that they computing is moving past the desktop and into mobile platforms where they have a historically weak presence.

In response Windows 8 was developed to be as mobile friendly as possible, to the point of forcing everyone to use the default mobile interface by default. The result could not be more hostile to enterprise environments. Microsoft is willing to sacrifice Windows 8 knowing that enterprises are migrating to Windows 7 anyways.

The reason Microsoft is sacrificing an entire enterprise operating system release and angering the enterprise is to avoid being left behind in the mobile market. They did so in direct response to the Apple iPad and the risk they perceive in it. In order to push this vision they even brought out proof of concept hardware in terms of the Surface tablet which was generally well received and many people think could be quite competitive.

However they have completely failed in executing their vision. The first reports of pricing for surface tablets are now out and they are going to cost significantly more than the Ipad! The price is well into the netbook category for hardware that is far less competitive. Who on earth enters a market with markedly higher prices and inferior hardware? What's happening at Microsoft? This never would have happened under Bill Gates."

Submission + - Is organic farming the future Hummer of the eco movement? (msn.com) 5

Submitted by
onyxruby
onyxruby writes: "Organic farming has caught on as a popular means of claiming to be eco friendly. With a relatively low personal cost (just pay twice as much at the checkout) and claimed health benefits it has become a popular option for those who can afford it. However is this simple green washing?

Researchers at Stanford University reviewed 200 studies and found health benefits to largely be anecdotal. Chensheng Lu with Standford University was asked to pick if one was healthier than the other, "Right now I think it's all based on anecdotal evidence".

With a world population that has already hit 7 billion people, finding cropland to feed the worlds masses is no small matter. Organic yields are substantially lower than conventional yields and the only way to obtain additional farmland it to take wildlands. According to Dr. Steve Savage who did the first comprehensive study of organic farming for the USDA in 2008 simply converting the United States alone to organic standards would require substantial additional cropland.

a switch to organic agriculture would require a 43 percent increase over current U.S. cropland, according to Savage. As he puts it, "On a land-area basis, this additional area would be 97% the physical size of Spain or 71% the size of Texas

The first comprehensive studies of organic farming coming back saying that the health benefits are anecdotal and the loss of yield substantial. I'm inclined to call organic farming the Hummer of the Eco movement, to be held in contempt as exposed as simple green washing. I think in years to come it will be looked at no differently than ethanol from corn. Can anyone make a good argument against this?"

Politics

Submission + - Obama claims India doesn't poach jobs (startribune.com) 1

Submitted by
onyxruby
onyxruby writes: "Obama shows just how out of touch he is with regular America and it's needs. He has made the audacious claim that India adds jobs instead of poaching jobs from America. Mr Obama, I believe several million out of work Americans whose jobs are now in India would disagree with you. You would think with the recent political thrashing the Democrats took in the last election would have been a wake up call. What happened to the Democrat party being the one to defend the average working Joe? In a time of severe recession, with millions of jobs lost, we needs jobs, and more to the point, we need them in our country."

Submission + - The dead file

Submitted by
onyxruby
onyxruby writes: "In the recent pass my father has passed away, leaving me to be the one to do computer work. All of this has led me to wonder, what suggestions do people have for working with the digital life of someone who has passed away?

Will companies like Yahoo give access to someone's email if they receive a copy of a death certificate? How would you want to have the news broken to you that someone you talked with online passed away or is it better not to access said services from a privacy standpoint leaving some people literally in the dark about what happened to someone? Considering society as a whole is moving more and more of itself online, I think this will only become more relevant.

What do people do with their own stuff, do people have things like a safety deposit box with passwords in it? There are digital services that will send an email on your dead self's behalf, but is there any kind of service that people would literally trust with the digital keys to your financial self?

How would an estate handle things like software and music he purchased (if dvd's are the property of the estate to be disbursed, why not digital music?). Considering that some people can literally have many thousands of dollars in digital content, I don't think it should dissapear just because someone passed away, that would certainly never be acceptable with a cd or dvd collection."
Censorship

Submission + - State of Minnesota attemps internet censorship (startribune.com)

Submitted by
onyxruby
onyxruby writes: "The state of Minnesota is attempting to become the first state to actively censor citizens Internet access.

A division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety that enforces gambling and alcohol laws said today that it has instructed 11 national and regional telephone and Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access

.

The article fails to mention by what legal authority they are attempting to censor these websites. Gambling online in Minnesota is illegal, and it appears that the state is simply trying to "order" ISP's to censor the Internet. While I don't personally gamble (the odds are stacked too much in favor of the house), the implications of state ordered censorship are disturbing. This creates a dangerous slippery slope precedent about the limitations of state power."

Transportation

Submission + - Fighting satellite based vehicle survelliance. (startribune.com)

Submitted by
onyxruby
onyxruby writes: "Like many local communities, mine has reduced how much gas it has used with a combination of driving less and more fuel efficient vehicles. The result of this is that the gas tax isn't supplying the same income it used to. In response my community, the State of Minnesota, wants to look at some kind of satellite based vehicle tax. As someone who is seriously considering buying a significantly more fuel efficient vehicle (Chevy Volt) than I'm driving now, this strikes me as ludicrous.

I've heard plenty of horror stories already, and am well aware that other systems (Toll passes etc) that can be used for tracking are routinely subpoenaed or monitored and occasionally abused. I consider this level of tracking to exemplify a big brother invasion of my privacy, I also don't care for the idea that such a system could easily be hooked up to an automated enforcement system or be fed to my auto insurance company. I want to fight this at the local level, has anyone got ideas on how to do so and be taken seriously?"

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