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Comment Re:$500 as the max? (Score 1) 257

I am looking for an add on to my MB Air. I had a motion computing tablet PC that was only useful to me a ereader. I loved it on the plane, but no where else. I am looking for a "Kindle-ish" sized (the larger one) tablet that has a color screen for multimedia magazine reading ( I really want my photography and video magazines electronically), and reading PDFs. If I can do some light computing that will raise its value as I can sometimes leave my laptop behind. Most of the time I would expect to have both, and my bag will still weigh less when I leave the stack of papers behind. The price range is way too low given most current readers are on the high range of the spread in the survey.
Games

Whatever Happened To Second Life? 209

Barence writes "It's desolate, dirty, and sex is outcast to a separate island. In this article, PC Pro's Barry Collins returns to Second Life to find out what went wrong, and why it's raking in more cash than ever before. It's a follow-up to a feature written three years ago, in which Collins spent a week living inside Second Life to see what the huge fuss at the time was all about. The difference three years can make is eye-opening."
Music

ASCAP Seeks Licensing Fees For Guitar Hero Arcade 146

Self Bias Resistor writes "According to a post on the Arcade-Museum forums, ASCAP is demanding an annual $800 licensing fee from at least one operator of a Guitar Hero Arcade machine, citing ASCAP licensing regulations regarding jukeboxes. An ASCAP representative allegedly told the operator that she viewed the Guitar Hero machine as a jukebox of sorts. The operator told ASCAP to contact Raw Thrills, the company that sells the arcade units. The case is ongoing and GamePolitics is currently seeking clarification of the story from ASCAP."
Games

Copyright and the Games Industry 94

A recent post at the Press Start To Drink blog examined the relationship the games industry has with copyright laws. More so than in some other creative industries, the reactions of game companies to derivative works are widely varied and often unpredictable, ranging anywhere from active support to situations like the Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes debacle. Quoting: "... even within the gaming industry, there is a tension between IP holders and fan producers/poachers. Some companies, such as Epic and Square Enix, remain incredibly protective of their Intellectual Property, threatening those that use their creations, even for non-profit, cultural reasons, with legal suits. Other companies, like Valve, seem to, if not embrace, at least tolerate, and perhaps even tacitly encourage this kind of fan engagement with their work. Lessig suggests, 'The opportunity to create and transform becomes weakened in a world in which creation requires permission and creativity must check with a lawyer.' Indeed, the more developers and publishers that take up Valve's position, the more creativity and innovation will emerge out of video game fan communities, already known for their intense fandom and desire to add to, alter, and re-imagine their favorite gaming universes."

Comment Won't anyone think of the cows... (Score 2, Insightful) 820

Cattle are one of the most successful species on the planet. Why? Because, they threw their lot in with humans. Humans do don't care about preserving something with which they have no relationship. It takes resources to keep cows, and few to none will do it unless they is an economic benefit. Therefore, one must wonder is PETA's real motive to drive cows extinct in their drive to save cows from humans?

Comment Continent of Afro-eurasia (Score 1) 140

To extend your reasoning, actually, there is a single continent of Afro-eurasia because of the continuous landmass joined at the Isthmus of Suez until, as you say, somebody decided to split it... so jumping from Africa to Europe is no less intercontinental than crossing the Panamanian land bridge. Actually, it has been proposed that this is a single continent, just look up continent in wikipedia

So really there should be only 4 olympic rings since the olympic bigots leave out Antarctica, of course, there has not been a team from there. Maybe there should be only 3 since Australia is hardly more than a big island. To be fair though, I believe the rings represent world regions, rather than continents, even if continents is the word they use

Comment Re:Standard Calculus (Score 1) 369

Wait. I assuming your values are correct as I have not read the original article. Your equation is fine, but you missed a piece and I hope this legal precedent did not use this same logic. What about units here? 2040 ft/30 sec is 68 ft/sec which is 46.4 miles/hr I guess you are right he was speeding, by 1.4 miles/hr

Comment Re:First you need a semantic context (Score 1) 264

I used 58.44 and molecular weight and all top ten hits told me what molecule I was dealing with. Same with 58.44 g/mol. You are right, numbers require context or 58.44 could be anything, and most of the time a generic search without units the context would be wrong. I am sure that I have used 58.44 outside the context of chemistry much more often than I have in it even though I spent many years in a molecular biology lab.

Comment Re:No license necessary (Score 1) 246

You must work for Disney. You would have us believe that all use must be sanctioned by the rights holder and that is simply not the case. You fail to mention fair use exceptions. It may not apply in this case, but any person who states that the rights holder has exclusive control of a work without the exception of where that use is fair should get a slap along side the head.

Comment Success relies on our tendency to get well or die (Score 5, Insightful) 713

In general, if you are sick or injured you get better or die. If you die you can't say anything about the failure of your medical care. If you have received care, more than likely likely you will improve. The question is whether the care altered the healing. Since humans like to find patterns, which help us predict future events, we tend to associate an action with an outcome. So, if we tend to get better, and we receive care, unless we are careful we will assume the care was positively associated with getting better. I really wish we were better able to teach that correlation does not imply causation.
Remember, your chiropractor is little more than a highly paid masseur/se.

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