iminplaya - Slashdot User

Submission + - 'Profane' Content On 700Mhz Band?

Submitted by

janitorj

on Thursday December 20, 2007 @09:29PM

janitorj writes: "As I was reading the manual for my new cellular phone (yes I RTFM), I came across an FCC warning that reads "No person shall utter any obscene, indecent or profane language by means of radio communication." This just means I cannot legally curse during my phone calls, but then I started thinking about all the talk about the high stakes FCC auction for the 700Mhz band. If, as the hype suggests, a large broadband network is created on these frequencies, what will become of internet censorship? The FCC will potentially have jurisdiction over any data sent over its frequencies, so does that mean if this wireless network is created, there will be no more profanity allowed on the internet?"

Submission + - Judge rules TorrentSpy destroyed evidence (arstechnica.com) 2

Submitted by

Come play kdice

on Wednesday December 19, 2007 @12:09AM

Come play kdice writes: "A federal judge has handed the MPAA a resounding victory in its copyright infringement lawsuit against TorrentSpy. Judge Florence-Marie Cooper entered a default judgment against Justin Bunnell and the rest of named defendants in Columbia Pictures et al. v. Justin Bunnell et al. after finding that TorrentSpy "engaged in widespread and systematic efforts to destroy evidence" and lying under oath about said destruction. After being sued, TorrentSpy mounted a vigorous defense, including a countersuit it filed against the MPAA in May 2006, but, behind the scenes, the court documents paint a picture of a company desperately trying to bury any and all incriminating evidence. TorrentSpy has announced its intention to appeal, but its conduct makes a reversal unlikely."

Submission + - Converting light into sound (nature.com)

Submitted by

prostoalex

on Sunday December 16, 2007 @02:56AM

prostoalex writes: "Researchers at Duke are trying to solve the problem of speeding up fiberoptic connections by converting light into sound, then converting it back into light: "To get the information from the acoustic wave out again, a third light pulse, the 'read' pulse, is sent in. When it reaches the part of the fibre being affected by the acoustic wave, the light scatters in such a way as to regain the information that was left behind by the initial pulse. The newly-formed data pulse leaves the fibre, resuming the journey in the same direction as the original pulse, taking the same information with it.""

Submission + - Meteor may have hit international space station (yahoo.com)

Submitted by

adnd74

on Sunday December 16, 2007 @02:55AM

adnd74 writes: "Two astronauts on the International Space Station will make a spacewalk next week to find out if a micrometeoroid strike damaged a critical part of the outpost's power system, officials said on Thursday. The station is not in any danger and is still producing enough power to support the arrival of a Russian cargo ship this month, said station deputy program manager Kirk Shireman."

Submission + - CompUSA closing stores. (macworld.com)

Submitted by N0N0B4dD0g on Saturday December 08, 2007 @01:18AM

N0N0B4dD0g writes: Macworld reports that computer and electronics retailer CompUSA announced on Friday that it would start winding down its retail operations after being acquired by an investment firm, which is looking to sell the company's business and assets.

Submission + - Microsoft shuts down Santa (msn.com)

Submitted by Kingcanute on Saturday December 08, 2007 @01:15AM

Kingcanute writes: Microsoft has been forced to shut down its Santa, Northpole Live automated IM program, because of foul language use by 'Santa' in conversations with children.

Submission + - Germany Is Planning To Outlaw The Scientologists (xuecast.com)

Submitted by

XueCast

on Friday December 07, 2007 @11:23PM

XueCast writes: "Germany has decided to declare the Church of Scientology as an unconstitutional institution, and it will only be a matter of time before the Church of Scientology will be completely banned in the black forest country. Many Germany's high ranking officials are in the move to challenge the Scientology's legal status, after many reports saying that the Church is exploiting it's members for financial gain."

Submission + - EMI music forces NZ National Party to recall DVDs (nzherald.co.nz)

Submitted by RincewindTVD on Monday December 03, 2007 @01:30AM

RincewindTVD writes: Music 'similar' to Coldplay's Clocks has forced promotional material from NZ's National political party to be recalled, including DVDs sent out and online media.

Musicologist Dr Graeme Downes notes that the song Clocks and hte music in the promotional material are very similar and that he would not be willing to help defend the copyright infringement claims.

It looks like the Auckland artist and the production company that made this for the National party might be in a bit of hot water over this.

Forced recall details here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10480032&ref=rss

Earlier details including notes from a musicologist here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10479448

Too lazy to edit urls..

Submission + - Facebook spyware worse than previously thought? 1

Submitted by on Monday December 03, 2007 @01:22AM

An anonymous reader writes: Further developments in the Facebook Beacon affair... According to PC World, a Computer Associates researcher claims that Beacon, when installed on participating sites, is sending data about users' activity back to Facebook, even when a user is logged out of Facebook — despite Facebook's claims to the contrary.

Submission + - It was 40 years ago 1

Submitted by iminplaya on Monday December 03, 2007 @01:03AM

iminplaya writes: '1967: The first human-to-human heart transplant is performed. The operation is a success, but the patient dies after complications set in.
South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard, who prepared for this day by performing a number of experimental heart transplants involving dogs, led a 30-member surgical team in implanting the heart of a young woman into 53-year-old Louis Washkansky, a Cape Town grocer suffering from diabetes and incurable heart disease.'

Submission + - Why Microsoft will never beat down open source. (idg.com.au)

Submitted by

Smiley

on Sunday December 02, 2007 @10:35PM

Smiley writes: "Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, predicts big things for the open-source OS kernel. But in this interview Torvalds says he is excited about solid-state drives, expects progress in graphics and wireless networking, and says Linux is strong in virtualisation. Linus continues to test the limits of the open-source development process and talks about what's to be expected for 2008 and potential patent litigation."

Submission + - Former MS (now FF)Security Honcho: MS Hides Holes (mozilla.com) 1

Submitted by

theranjan

on Sunday December 02, 2007 @09:08PM

theranjan writes: "When Jeff Jones, a Security Strategy Director at Microsoft, decided to compare Internet Explorer security vulnerabilities with those of Mozilla Firefox, and decided to publish his results showing that Internet Explorer was more secure, he perhaps forgot that the Head Security Strategist of Mozilla, Window Snyder, was a former MS employee, in fact the security lead for the Service pack of Windows XP and Server. In a rebuttal of the study, Window Snyder said that the number of vulnerabilities publicly acknowledged was just a "small subset" of all vulnerabilities fixed internally. The vulnerabilities found internally are fixed in service packs and major updates without public knowledge. This is probably one of the first times that we have confirmation from one of Microsoft's former workers that this practice is routinely followed in Microsoft. This also confirms that the studies performed or referenced by Microsoft touting itself as the safest Operating system, comparing the vulnerabilities between OSes, needs to be taken with bucketfuls of salt. Finally, Window speaks out against the practice of counting bugs,stating plainly that "If we as an industry would just acknowledge that counting bugs is useless then vendors could feel safe talking about what they are doing to protect users" and "Were not building fixes for our PR team, were building them for our users. Go ahead and count.""

Submission + - Scanning All Travelers Crossing US Borders Now in (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by conlaw on Sunday December 02, 2007 @06:52PM

conlaw writes: Just the first paragraph of this Washington Post article is scary as all getout:

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.
Note that this includes "all people," including US citizens.

Submission + - FCC vs Cable Round2,FCC Plan to Cap Cable Co. Size (techluver.com)

Submitted by

Tech.Luver

on Sunday December 02, 2007 @05:55PM

Tech.Luver writes: "The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is moving toward resurrecting a proposal that would limit the size cable operators could reach on a nationwide basis, agency officials said Thursday. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is circulating the proposal among his fellow commissioners for a possible vote at the agency's next meeting, scheduled for Dec 18 and has enough support on the five-member commission to pass a measure that would bar cable companies from owning systems that have more than a 30-percent share of U.S. multichannel video subscribers. Fearing the potential monopoly power of cable television companies, Congress in 1992 directed the FCC to establish limits on how many customers cable television companies could reach nationwide. ( http://techluver.com/2007/12/02/round-2-set-in-fcc-vs-cable-fight-as-fcc-plan-to-limit-cable-companies-size/ )"

Submission + - Nintendo Is On The Move Against Mod Chip Stores (xuecast.com)

Submitted by

XueCast

on Sunday December 02, 2007 @05:51PM

XueCast writes: "Nintendo has just decided to go all out against stores in the Germany that are selling Mod Chips for the Nintendo Wii console, by sending warning letters to these stores. Through the letters, Nintendo is asking the Mod Chip stores to stop selling Wii Mod Chips immediately, destroy the Mod Chips in question and then disclose the name and the location of the Wii Mod Chips' manufacturer(s) to Nintendo, or else they will be litigated, Nintendo warns."

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