timtwobuck - Slashdot User

Woman Wins Right to Criticize Surgeon on Website 250

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 08, 2007 @01:05AM from the tell-it-like-it-is dept.

Scoopy writes "The website of a cosmetic surgery patient critical of her Sacramento surgeon's work is protected free speech, an appeals court said in an opinion that could have statewide implications. The website contains before and after photographs of 33-year-old Georgette Gilbert, who said the surgery left her with one eyebrow higher than the other and a surprised look permanently affixed to her face. The website was challenged in a defamation suit filed by surgeon Jonathan Sykes, a prominent professor and television commentator on the subject of cosmetic surgery. Although the Sacramento-based 3rd District Court of Appeal only mentions Sykes, the opinion suggests that others who use 'hot topics' of public interest in their advertisements and promotions may shed protections against defamation afforded to ordinary citizens."

Submission + - Genes Linked to Teen Delinquency

Submitted by

sporkme

on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @11:39PM

sporkme writes: "An Australian study has found a link between antisocial behavior and specific genes, independent of parents' emotional influence.

"Our data shows that marital conflict is not a major culprit," said epidemiologist Nick Martin, from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. "Rows have often been blamed for ratbag behaviour but we've got no evidence to suggest that they are the problem." Researchers, including several from the US, studied 1,045 pairs of twins and their children to see whether the link between parental fighting and kids' conduct problems was genetic or environmental. They found that children of an identical twin had the same levels of behavioural problems regardless of whether it was their parent or their parent's identical sibling that had marital rows.
The study was published in the journal Child Development, which is available by subscription."

Submission + - RIAA to Apple: Spread the DRM!

Submitted by Kalriath on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @11:23PM

Kalriath writes: Posted at The Register is the RIAA's official response to Steve Jobs open letter decrying DRM and asking the recording industry to seriously consider allowing DRM-free music. They have this to say about it:

The RIAA has seized on the weakest part of Steve Jobs' anti-DRM manifesto by banging on Apple to license its FairPlay technology to other companies.

"Apple's offer to license FairPlay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels," the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) said. "There have been many services seeking a licence to the Apple DRM. This would enable the interoperability that we have been urging for a very long time."
The section in question from Steves letter, which quite clearly states the problems with this approach reads:

The second alternative is for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology to current and future competitors with the goal of achieving interoperability between different company's players and music stores. On the surface, this seems like a good idea since it might offer customers increased choice now and in the future. And Apple might benefit by charging a small licensing fee for its FairPlay DRM.

However, when we look a bit deeper, problems begin to emerge. The most serious problem is that licensing a DRM involves disclosing some of its secrets to many people in many companies, and history tells us that inevitably these secrets will leak. The Internet has made such leaks far more damaging, since a single leak can be spread worldwide in less than a minute. Such leaks can rapidly result in software programs available as free downloads on the Internet which will disable the DRM protection so that formerly protected songs can be played on unauthorized players.
Jobs may be a smooth talker, but against such circular logic, even he can't win.

Submission + - Vote on the next great Linux application

Submitted by

Morel

on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @10:09PM

Morel writes: "Linux Format Magazine and Novell have launched a very interesting competition called Make it With Mono. Basically, we are being given the opportunity to finally have that Linux aplication we've always wanted. From the competition description: "On this site you can submit a description for a program you'd love to use, and if other users rate it to the top, your program idea will be written in Mono!" Predictably, some of the apps submitted are too vague, too specific to appeal to a wide audience or replicate existing programs, but there are some absolute jewels, too. Slashdotters of the globe, let's stop our complaining and choose the next killer app!"

Study Show Link Between IT Sabotage, Work Behavior 325

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @10:00PM from the money-well-spent dept.

narramissic writes "According to recent research by the U.S. military and CERT, workers who sabotage corporate systems are almost always IT workers who are disgruntled, paranoid, generally show up late, argue with colleagues, and generally perform poorly."

RIAA Victim Wins Attorney's Fees 171

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @08:51PM from the fight-the-power dept.

VE3OGG writes "Debbie Foster, one of the many caught-up in the RIAA's drift-net attacks who was sued back in 2004 has recently seen yet another victory. After having the suit dropped against her "with prejudice" several months back, Foster filed a counter-claim, and has just been awarded "reasonable" attorney's fees. Could this, in conjunction with cases such as Santangelo, show a turning of the tide against the RIAA?"

Submission + - Charity Auction For A Cameo Role In Halo 3

Submitted by Karn Spydar Lee Bianco on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @08:47PM

Karn Spydar Lee Bianco writes: Hollywood Arts are offering one lucky individual the chance to have their voice recorded for Master Chief's third and final outing in Halo 3. http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/11163/title/C harity_Auction_For_A_Cameo_Role_In_Halo_3.html

Google Apps to Become Paid Service 273

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @07:43PM from the google-is-coming dept.

FredDC writes "Business Week reports Google Apps is becoming a paid service soon for companies who wish to use it for their domain. Disney and Pixar are reportedly thinking about switching to Google Apps instead of using Microsoft Office. Could this be the end of a monopoly? Or the start of a new one?"

One Laptop Per Child Security Spec Released 253

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @06:41PM from the no-school-like-the-old-school dept.

juwiley writes "The One Laptop Per Child project has released information about its advanced security platform called Bitfrost. Could children with a $100 laptop end up with a better security infrastructure than executives using $5000 laptops powered by Vista? 'What's deeply troubling — almost unbelievable — about [Unix style permissions] is that they've remained virtually the only real control mechanism that a user has over her personal documents today...In 1971, this might have been acceptable...We have set out to create a system that is both drastically more secure and provides drastically more usable security than any mainstream system currently on the market.'"

New York To Ban iPods While Crossing Street? 487

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @05:58PM from the he-wants-us-to-think-for-ourselves dept.

An anonymous reader writes to mention Reuters is reporting that New York State Senator Carl Kruger is looking to institute a $100 fine for using electronic gadgets while crossing the street. Citing three pedestrian deaths in his Brooklyn district as the main driving reason he believe Government has an obligation to protect its citizens. "Tech-consuming New Yorkers trudge to work on sidewalks and subways like an army of drones, appearing to talk to themselves on wireless devices or swaying to seemingly silent tunes. 'I'm not trying to intrude on that,' Kruger said. 'But what's happening is when they're tuning into their iPod or Blackberry or cell phone or video game, they're walking into speeding buses and moving automobiles. It's becoming a nationwide problem.'"

Submission + - The Engineering Behind Lexus' Self Park System

Submitted by killabrew on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @05:54PM

killabrew writes: Read about the engineering and technology behind the Lexus LS 460's self assist parking system. Also see a video demostration on how the new sensor-based systems enable vehicles to steer themselves into parking spaces. Read the story and watch the video here: http://www.designnews.com/article/CA6414506.html

Submission + - PCIe Cabling Spec Allows External Graphics Cards

Submitted by writertype on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @05:22PM

writertype writes: The PCI Express SIG released its Cabling 1.0 spec on Wednesday, which translates the PCI Express protocols found within motherboards into a cable that takes PCI Express outside the box, ExtremeTech reports. PCI SIG executives specifically mention that the spec was designed to allow external PC graphics solutions, making things like SLI cooling all that much easier. An important step forward for the PC, I think.

Dreaming in Code

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @04:49PM from the dream-a-little-dream dept.

AdamBa writes "Scott Rosenberg's new book Dreaming in Code chronicles the attempt by Mitch Kapor's Open Source Applications Foundation to produce a new Personal Information Manager, code-named Chandler. Beginning in the spring of 2002, Kapor gathered programmers together with the somewhat vague goal of producing a new piece of software inspired by Agenda, a Lotus product from the late 1980s. The new product would be cross-platform and open source; the other details were still to be determined." Read on for the rest of Adam's review.

Submission + - Former RIAA defendant wins countersuit

Submitted by

KingSkippus

on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @04:00PM

KingSkippus writes: "Debbie Foster, who was accused by the RIAA of sharing music on a peer-to-peer network and fought for a year and a half to have her case dismissed, has won a countersuit seeking $55,000 for attorney's fees. Ars Technica reports, "The industry cartel will have to tread carefully with any secondary infringement claims now that there is case law that owning an Internet account used for infringement does not automatically make the owner liable for said infringement. Attorney Ray Beckerman told Ars that he believes there are huge implications from this opinion. 'It sends a message to the RIAA... that there are consequences to this 'driftnet' litigation strategy.'""

Submission + - 33 Reasons Why Libraries are Still Important

Submitted by on Thursday February 01, 2007 @04:25PM

An anonymous reader writes: As libraries' relevance comes into question, they face an existential crisis at a time they are perhaps needed the most. Despite their perceived obsoleteness in the digital age both libraries — and librarians — are irreplaceable for many reasons. 33, in fact.

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