stars_are_number_1 - Slashdot User

Comment Re:you're not listening to me (Score 1) 200

by stars_are_number_1 on Friday March 13, 2009 @09:02AM (#27179567) Attached to: Mozilla Contemplates a Future Without Google

Not when you distrust Microsoft for a reason that has no bearing on Google whatsoever.

If people distrusted Microsoft because they gathered lots of information about people, yeah, they should distrust Google as well.

But people don't.

They distrust Microsoft for a completely different reason than you distrust Google. And that's okay. We can have a difference of opinion on this. You can live your life and not use any Google product and stay as far away from them as possible. And guess what? They won't have any information on you!

Just don't try to make up some fake argument about how if you distrust one you must distrust the other. It is simply not true.

Comment Re:Err... (Score 1) 334

by stars_are_number_1 on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @11:20PM (#26733125) Attached to: US Digital TV Switchover Delayed Until June

Actually, from the conversation I'm picking up on, many stations are planning on switching on Feb. 17.

Comment Re:The old bill allowed analogs off early too. (Score 1) 318

by stars_are_number_1 on Monday February 02, 2009 @10:13AM (#26693657) Attached to: Senate Passes Another Bill To Delay Digital TV Transition

The original bill didn't require analog stations to stay on until June either.

(if the link breaks, try this PDF link)

See Sec. 4, paragraph (a) which states in part: "Nothing in this Act is intended to prevent a licensee of a television broadcast station from terminating the broadcasting of such station's analog television signal (and continuing to broadcast exclusively in the digital television service) prior to the date established by law under section 3002(b) of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 for termination of all licenses for full-power television stations in the analog television service (as amended by section 2 of this Act) so long as such prior termination is conducted in accordance with the Federal Communications Commission's requirements in effect on the date of enactment of this Act,.."

(typical government wordiness)

What it means is that before this bill was introduced, stations could sign off their analogs before Feb. 17th upon giving 30 days notice to the FCC and the viewers. Should the bill pass into law, paragraph (a) ensures they can still sign off before June 12th, again provided they give 30 days notice.

Several hundred stations have already given such notice. Including most of the major-network affiliates in Nashville, New Orleans, and Wichita among other cities.

The proposed new bill (PDF version) contains the same paragraph.

Is there a list of stations that have given their switch notice?

Comment Re:colossal failure of broadcast media (Score 1) 318

by stars_are_number_1 on Monday February 02, 2009 @10:04AM (#26693555) Attached to: Senate Passes Another Bill To Delay Digital TV Transition

The stations around here have all been covering the changeover as news stories for months now, including explaining what to do to be able to keep watching. I assume it's the same elsewhere.

Overlay banners are annoying. Especially if they would run 24x7

Why not do this for a week, or three days? It seems it would be in the interest of the local station, to insure that their viewers know what steps they must take to see the station. Or, maybe have a repeating 20 minute informercial that actually walks through the steps of making the transition?

Comment Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score 1) 318

by stars_are_number_1 on Monday February 02, 2009 @09:54AM (#26693431) Attached to: Senate Passes Another Bill To Delay Digital TV Transition

This is something that's been on my mind about digital channel numbering.

KETK-TV is my local NBC station. It's on analog 56 and digital 22. However, the station refers to itself at channel 56 and shows up on my digital box as channel 56, through virtual channels.

My question, once the transition finally takes place and the dust settles, will KETK start referring to itself at channel 22, or continue to use the virtual moniker of channel 56?

Submission + - Netflix Gets Hacked (tvsquad.com)

Submitted by

Dragontologist

on Tuesday August 07, 2007 @05:28PM

Dragontologist writes: "In an interestingly round-about way, a few hackers have posted publicly about how to get around the $17/month fee for Netflix streaming video. It's not particularly easy, you only get 17 hours of video a month, and you can't copy it onto your iPod (not without another hack, anyway), but it's free (assuming you don't mind the whole illegal thing). All I want to know is, who would think to exploit Windows Media Player?"

Submission + - How to bring down Internet Explorer in six words (commandline.org.uk) 1

Submitted by

Marcion

on Tuesday August 07, 2007 @02:34PM

Marcion writes: "Some handy Japanese guy called Hamachiya discovered a bug in Internet Explorer. Under certain conditions, an asterisk when used as a wildcard can crash IE as soon as the user attempts to go to another webpage. Feel free to add the code to your stylesheet too!"

Submission + - Eight Parties Join Suit Against YouTube/Google (nzherald.co.nz)

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Monday August 06, 2007 @10:30PM

eldavojohn writes: "Things have worsened in the copyright suit against Google for its YouTube service. eight more parties have joined among them the National Music Publishers' Association, which is the largest US music publishing trade association, the Rugby Football League, the Finnish Football League Association and author Daniel Quinn. Back in May, Google commented on this suit by saying "These suits simply misunderstand the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which balances the rights of copyright holders against the need to protect internet communications and content.""

Submission + - Barry Bonds' HR Record Tainted by Elbow 'Armor'? (editorandpublisher.com)

Submitted by

solitas

on Monday August 06, 2007 @09:38PM

solitas writes: "An interesting article for the mechanical engineers and baseball fans on /. about the guard Bonds wears on his right elbow, and the possible physical and mechanical advantages it gives his swing.

Beyond his alleged steroid use, Barry Bonds is guilty of the use of something that confers extraordinarily unfair mechanical advantage: the "armor" that he wears on his right elbow. Amid the press frenzy over Bonds' unnatural bulk, the true role of the object on his right arm has simply gone unnoticed."

Submission + - Internet Pioneer Unveils Flow Router (theglobeandmail.com)

Submitted by No_Weak_Heart on Monday August 06, 2007 @08:08PM

No_Weak_Heart writes: From this article in the Globe and Mail: "Lawrence Roberts, once part of a group that developed the world's first major computer packet network in the 1960s, started up Anagran Inc. in 2004 with the aim of developing a router that can better handle Internet traffic. The FR-1000 Flow Router, Anagran's first product, uses what the company calls behavioural traffic control, instead of existing methods of delivering data "packets" across networks, to ensure online video and voice services are delivered without interruptions."

Submission + - iPhone unlocked for use on European carriers

Submitted by thefickler on Monday August 06, 2007 @06:35PM

thefickler writes: Thanks to a Macedonian hacker and the iPhone hacking team at Hackint0sh, the Apple iPhone is now usable across the pond. All you need to unlock the iPhone for use with a European carrier is a SIM reader/writer, V1Comp SIM card, and a blank SilverCard smart card.

Submission + - Senate website withholding wiretap law roll call (pressesc.com)

Submitted by

amigoro

on Sunday August 05, 2007 @09:22AM

amigoro writes: "The US Senate website is not publishing the roll call of votes by Senators on the bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act making President George W. Bush's illegal wiretapping order retroactively legal."

Submission + - Die-hard Pluto Fans Have New Cause Fro Despair (astronomyreport.com)

Submitted by HaHaHa7129 on Saturday August 04, 2007 @05:17PM

HaHaHa7129 writes: AstronomyReport.com tells us that new data shows that the dwarf planet Eris is 27 percent more massive than Pluto, thereby strengthening the decree last year that there are eight planets in the solar system and a growing list of dwarf planets. The new results, obtained with Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Observatory data, indicate that the density of the material making up Eris is about two grams per cubic centimeter. This means that Eris very likely is made up of ice and rock, and thus is very similar in composition to Pluto. Past results from the Hubble Space Telescope had already allowed planetary scientists to determine that its diameter is 2,400 kilometers, also larger than Pluto's.

Submission + - Record Industry Woes Aggravated by Years of Bad PR

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04, 2007 @01:00AM

An anonymous reader writes: Richard Menta makes a strong case on MP3 Newswire that bad public relations stirred by the open conflict between the record industry and the consumer is a heavy contributor to the crumbling fortunes of the major labels. In his analysis he contrasts how the NFL and Major League baseball tread gingerly with the Michael Vick and steroids scandals respectively to avoid further raising the ire of sports fans, while the major labels and the RIAA openly antagonize music fans who dare embrace new technologies they don't have full control of. From the article" Today the major record labels don't have a positive brand image and the very public actions they have taken to control the rise of digital media and the Internet over the last several years is at the very heart of their fall from grace. To some the big labels are an anachronism. To others they are anti-consumer. The erosion of their image is dramatic..." Menta then lays out 17 public events that have chipped away at the image of the recording industry including those that show them as bullies (RIAA sues little girls), as incompetent (RIAA sues the dead), as oppressors of the artist (Courtney Love, Janis Ian, and Grey Tuesday), as greedy (that's what Steve Jobs called them), and as practitioners of unauthorized access (Sony rootkit scandal). Consumer perception can be a bitch and the end result here is that many consumers probably don't feel as good about buying a CD anymore.

Submission + - FTC wants to hear your comments on SSN use (commentworks.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04, 2007 @12:24AM

An anonymous reader writes: The FTC is allowing people to voice their concerns and opinions on the private sector's use of SSNs (Social Security Numbers). The page to voice your comments can be found here: https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-SSNPrivateSect or/ Note that the only required fields are: Last name, state, and country.

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