636396
story
dprovine writes
"The New Jersey Supreme Court
has ruled that ISPs can't release customer information without a warrant. The unanimous decision reads in part 'We now hold that citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy protected by Article I ... of the New Jersey Constitution, in the subscriber information they provide to Internet service providers — just as New Jersey citizens have a privacy interest in their bank records stored by banks and telephone billing records kept by phone companies.'"
569596
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robipilot writes
"Video game publisher Activision Inc. has asked a federal court to declare that its popular "Guitar Hero" game does not violate a patent held by real-guitar maker Gibson Guitar Corp. Gibson's 1999 patent covers a virtual-reality device that included a headset with speakers that simulated participating in a concert, according to a complaint filed on Tuesday by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Activision in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles."
569594
story
coondoggie writes
"Eleven university solar research projects aimed at developing advanced solar photovoltaic (PV) technology manufacturing processes and products got a $14 million boost today from the Dept. of Energy. Photovoltaic-based solar cells convert sunlight directly into electricity, and are made of semiconductor materials similar to those used in computer chips. When sunlight is absorbed by these materials, the solar energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms, allowing the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity."
569260
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ZonkerWilliam writes
"Newscientist has an interesting article on tapping the nerve impulses going from the brain to the vocal chords, allowing for 'Voiceless' phone calls. "With careful training a person can send nerve signals to their vocal cords without making a sound. These signals are picked up by the neckband and relayed wirelessly to a computer that converts them into words spoken by a computerized voice." It's not quite telepathy, but it's pretty close."
262299
submission
iminplaya writes:
Japanese arcade distributor Atlus Co. said it will recall 150 arm-wrestling machines that are breaking players' arms.
The machine, known as Arm Spirit, has so far broken three arms of players who put it to the challenge. The machine features 10 levels of arm-wrestling difficulty, including a French maid, a drunken martial arts master and a Chihuahua. The final throw-down, for those who manage to avoid having their forearms snapped, is against a professional arm-wrestler.
"We think that maybe some players get overexcited and twist their arms in an unnatural way."
261795
submission
Skavoovie5 writes:
Despite all the raving about the new DRM-Free MP3 Download section of Wal-Mart, it would appear that Wal-Mart still expects its customers to chain themselves to a sub-standard OS. No Linux, no OS X.
Isn't the entire purpose of DRM-Free music to enable the purchaser the freedom to use the music on the platform and method they see fit? Apparently only as long as you're willing to run Windows, Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player. No thanks!
When attempting to access Wal-Marts MP3 download section of their website via Linux, the user is presented with the following error message:
"We're sorry, your operating system is incompatible. To provide the best download experience, we can no longer support Windows 98, ME or NT. Please visit again after you upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP. Visit our Help section for complete system requirements information."
Following the "Help section" link leads to a page listing the minimum system requirements:
What are the system requirements for using Wal-Mart Music Downloads?
* Windows 2000 or XP (sorry, no Macintosh or Linux) ...
* Internet Explorer version 6.0 or higher
* Windows Media Player version 9 or later