colinneagle - Slashdot User

Submission + - Finland is crowdsourcing its new copyright law (dailydot.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 23, 2013 @02:43PM

An anonymous reader writes: Internet activists in Finland, upset with the country's strict copyright laws, are ready to take advantage of the country's promise to vote on any citizen-proposed bill that reaches 50,000 signatures. Digital rights group Common Sense in Copyright has proposed sweeping changes to Finland's Lex Karpela, a 2006 amendment to the Finnish copyright law that more firmly criminalized digital piracy. Under it, "countless youngsters have been found guilty of copyright crimes and sentenced to pay thousands, in some cases hundreds of thousands, of euros in punitive damages to the copyright organizations." The proposal to fix copyright is the best-rated and most-commented petition on the Open Ministry site.

Submission + - EFF moves to nix trademark on 'gaymer' (networkworld.com)

Submitted by

netbuzz

on Wednesday January 23, 2013 @02:20PM

netbuzz writes: "Spurred by the mark holder’s cease and desist letter to Reddit’s subreddit r/gaymer, the Electronic Frontier Foundation today officially petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to rescind its grant of a trademark registration on the word gaymer. "This registration should never have been granted," said EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry. "Gaymer is a common term that refers to members of this vibrant gaming community, and we are happy to help them fight back and make sure the term goes back to the public domain where it belongs.”"

Submission + - Love Ubuntu, but looking for something faster? Go Lubuntu (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @05:08PM

colinneagle writes: Here’s the basic overview of what Lubuntu is:

Take Ubuntu. Rip out the Unity user interface and drop in LXDE (aka the "Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment"). This frees up resources (both memory and CPU) and generally makes your systems a bit snappier.

Then take out LibreOffice and Firefox. Sub in Abiword, Gnumeric and Chromium. Lightweight, super-face office suite and web browser? Check.

Those sorts of tweaks, and software swaps, are common throughout the system — and almost invariably resulting in a system that is just that much leaner and peppier. They even opt to use Sylpheed for the email client (instead of the common Thunderbird). Seriously. Sylpheed. Who uses Sylpheed? Well, apparently people who want their systems to be crazy fast and stable.

In many ways, Lubuntu reminds me of Ubuntu of old — back when Gnome 2 was the bee’s knee’s. Lubuntu even comes packed with Synaptic Package Manager (the old graphical software installer from versions of Ubuntu more than a few years back) and full access to all of Ubuntu’s software repositories (it is an Ubuntu-derived system, after all, with close ties to the Ubuntu release cycle).

Submission + - Road tunnel "cheesed off" (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by RockDoctor on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @04:56PM

RockDoctor writes: Life can be hard for roads and road tunnels : mountains press down on your shoulders, snow and ice dust your feet, and deisel and petrol fumes choke your lungs. But occasionally you can get really cheesed off. "the Brattli Tunnel at Tysfjord, northern Norway" has been closed and badly damaged by a fire on a lorry load of cheese. Which is moderately scarey and not terribly funny when you remember that a few years ago one of the trans-Alpine tunnels was closed by a similar lorry fire with several deaths and the tunnel closed for repairs for months.

On the other hand — the Mythbusters have tried building salami-powered rockets in the past, and may have a new material to evaluate.

Submission + - IT salaries are on the rise - especially in Pittsburgh, San Diego, and St. Louis (infoworld.com)

Submitted by

tsamsoniw

on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @04:11PM

tsamsoniw writes: "Silicon Valley remains home to the highest-paid IT professionals in the nation with average salaries over $100,000 — but employers in cities such as Pittsburgh, San Diego, and St. Louis are paying techies as much as 18% more than they were a year ago, according to recent salary data from Dice. What's more, IT pros with Big Data skills are out-earning those focused on mobile and cloud computing."

Submission + - Bugged guesthouse: Eric Schmidt's daughter reveals North Korea trip details (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @03:34PM

colinneagle writes: Very few details have been revealed about what happened during Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt's recent visit to North Korea...other than that he urged DPRK to "embrace" open access to the Internet. The trip wasn't for Google, since a Google spokeswoman told Wired, "We do not comment on personal travel." But now his daughter has provided interesting insight by writing a blog post called "It might not get weirder than this."

She included many interesting tidbits about their visit to North Korea, including that none in the nine-person delegation to DPRK had tech along on the visit.

"We left our phones and laptops behind in China, since we were warned they'd be confiscated in NK, and probably infected with lord knows what malware."

Her frank assessment also included "an aside: For a country that banned religion, and has sent thousands of practicing Christians to prison camps, the Christmas trees were rather incongruous."

Submission + - Why you'll pay for Netflix -- even if you don't subscribe to Netflix (foxnews.com) 1

Submitted by Velcroman1 on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @01:54PM

Velcroman1 writes: At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, Netflix announced Super HD, an immersive theatrical video format that looks more lifelike than any Web stream, even competing with Blu-Ray discs. But there’s a costly catch. To watch the high-definition, 1080p movies when they debut later this year, you’ll need a specific Internet Service Provider (or ISP). Those on Cablevision or Google Fiber are in; those served by Time Warner or a host of smaller providers will be out of luck. But regardless of whether you subscribe to Netflix, you may end up paying for it, said Fred Campbell, a former FCC legal adviser who now heads The Communications Liberty & Innovation Project think tank. “Instead of raising the price of its own service to cover the additional costs, Netflix wants to offload its additional costs onto all Internet consumers,” Campbell said. “That’s good for Netflix and bad for everyone else in the Internet economy.”

Submission + - Paki-ban: 'Call of Duty,' 'Medal of Honor' Banned in Middle East (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1 on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @01:31PM

Velcroman1 writes: “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” and “Medal of Honor: Warfighter” are war-themed games where the player gets to shoot enemies and, according to the shop owners, show Pakistan and the country’s prime intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence, as supporting Al Qaeda and jihadi organizations. They have been ordered removed from store shelves in Pakistan, after shop owners there complained that the games portray their country as an incubator for terrorism. The circular, written in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, reads, “The Association has always boycotted these types of films and games. These (games) have been developed against the country’s national unity and sanctity. The games (“Medal of Honor: Warfighter” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops II”) have been developed against Pakistan, and the association has completely banned their sale. Shopkeepers are warned and will be responsible for the consequences if found purchasing or selling these games.”

Submission + - New web service lets you text strangers on the road anonymously (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @11:50AM

colinneagle writes: A new service alled CurbTXT allows strangers to contact each other to inform them of parking or general car problems. Users register on the company website by submitting their cellphone number, license plate information, and zip code. A concerned passerby — say, someone whose driveway is blocked by an illegally parked car — can send a text message with the license plate number and the complaint to CurbTXT's designated number. CurbTXT relays that message to the car owner without revealing who sent the message in the first place.

Of course, there lies the potential for abuse of the service. Anonymity, especially on the internet, has brought out the worst in some people, and could only become infinitely more explosive when combined with road rage. Whether this becomes an issue as CurbTXT matures, and how the company plans to address it, will be interesting to watch.

Submission + - Bomb Blasts Alter Brain Lipid Levels (cenm.ag)

Submitted by

MTorrice

on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @11:45AM

MTorrice writes: "About 320,000 soldiers returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have struggled with neurological problems associated with traumatic brain injury, according to the Rand Corporation. Some veterans experience symptoms, such as memory loss and anxiety, without noticeable physical signs of brain injury. Now researchers report a possible chemical signature: Levels of a certain lipid spike in the brains of mice exposed to mild explosions. This lipid could serve as a way to diagnose people who are at risk of developing neurological disorders after a blast, the scientists say."

Submission + - Twitter Bug Allowed Apps to Access Direct Messages Without Permission (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7 on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @11:00AM

Trailrunner7 writes: Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have become not just communication hubs, but also authentication mechanisms for third-party sites. Many sites and Web applications allow users to sign in with their Facebook or Twitter credentials rather than registering, which is a nice convenience. That is, until it turns into a security liability. Security researcher Cesar Cerrudo recently discovered a bug in Twitter's code that enabled third-party apps to access users' private direct messages under some circumstances, even when users had not explicitly granted those apps that level of access.

Twitter, like many similar services, gives users the ability to authorize certain third-party applications to access their accounts. This includes things such as the Twitter app for the iPhone or Android devices, the buttons on Web sites that allow users to tweet a link to the site and mobile browsers on smartphones. Those apps can have differing levels of permissions on a given user's account, depending upon the app and what the user has approved for each app. For example, some apps may request permission to read from and write to your Twitter timeline, see who you follow and update your profile. Others may have those permissions, as well as the ability to access your direct messages, which are meant to be private.

Submission + - The Apple double standard (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle on Friday January 18, 2013 @03:45PM

colinneagle writes: When it comes to Apple, the "what have you done for me lately?" mentality reigns supreme. This in spite of the fact that Apple upgraded its entire product line in 2012: completely revamped iPods, the hyper-successful launch of the iPhone 5, new Macs, and of course the iPad Mini. That's an extremely agressive upgrade cycle for a company, that if you read the headlines, has seemingly forgotten what innovation even is.

For some bizarre reason, Apple is always being chastised for not introducing the "next big thing" at every event, as if innovative and disruptive products are simply formed out of thin air and should be delivered on a timely schedule, like opening day of Major League Baseball.

During the third quarter of 2012, for example, Amazon posted revenue of $13.18 billion and a net loss of $274 million. Nevertheless, shares of Amazon did not plumment and are currently trading at what is close to an all-time high. And, on the other hand, we have Apple, a company so profitable that if making money hand-over-fist were a crime, it would be sent to death row. And yet shares of Apple, in case you haven't been paying attention this week, are trading at 52-week-low levels. Not only have investors latched onto the WSJ story regarding Apple's reduction in iPhone 5 display orders, but now analysts are coming out of the woodwork singing the same old tune about how Apple's innovation is tapped out. And yet, Apple next week may very well announce its most profitable quarter in company history, or at the very least, come very close to it.

Submission + - iPod engineer Fadell on how to develop successful products (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle on Thursday January 17, 2013 @02:24PM

colinneagle writes: Tony Fadell played an instrumental part in Apple's resurgence. Indeed, Fadell joined Apple in February 2001 where he got to work designing the original iPod. As an engineer who has worked on a number of products for a variety of tech-oriented companies, Fadell is in a good position to assess just what makes Apple's design process different from the rest of the pack.

Speaking at the Bloomberg Design Conference this week, Fadell explained that a key and yet often overlooked difference between Apple and other tech companies is that Apple ships 99% of the products that pass certain internal milestones. By way of contrast, during Fadell's tenure at Philips — where he was charged with overseeing the company's audio strategy — the iPod guru noted that Philips would axe 9 projects out of 10, even if a particular product was about to ship.

"When you’re in a culture that has a point of view, and drives to launch everything it does, you know you’re on the hook and you better bring your best game every time," Fadell explained.

In a previous interview, Fadell also explained that his superiors at Philips were all business managers who looked exclusively at numbers. That mindset, Fadell explained, does not lend itself to innovation.

Submission + - Kim Dotcom Reveals Mega Will Offer 50GB Of Free Storage

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17, 2013 @02:01PM

An anonymous reader writes: Kim Dotcom on Thursday used Twitter to reveal some interesting new tidbits in regards to his upcoming Mega service, which will be hosted at the New Zealand-based domain Mega.co.nz. Two days before the service is to go live, Doctom says he plans to offer 50GB of free storage to all members and is also working on bringing over users’ Megaupload files and data, but has so far run into legal issues.

Submission + - Make government software open source, German parliamentary committee advises (computerworlduk.com)

Submitted by Qedward on Thursday January 17, 2013 @12:00PM

Qedward writes: Germany should change a law to enable public administrations to make their software available as free and open source, a German parliamentary committee has advised.

German public administrations currently are not allowed to give away goods, including software, said Jimmy Schulz, a member of Parliament and chairman of the Interoperability, Standards and Free Software Project Group. The current law prohibits governments from being part of the development process in the free software community, he said.

"This is a clear disadvantage because it cuts off all benefits obtained from free software, such as being cost-efficient and state-of-the-art," he said.

Besides a recommendation that the government should explore whether the law can be changed for software, the group also called for the use of open standards in order to make sure that everybody can have access to important information, Schulz said. "We also called for public administrations in general to make sure that new software is created as platform independent as possible," he added.

While the project group is not in favour of giving priority to one type of software over another, it said in its recommendation to the Parliament earlier this week that free and open source software could be a viable alternative to proprietary software.

Slashdot Top Deals