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Music

Submission + - Pink Floyd manager: don't stop file-sharing (pcpro.co.uk) 1

Submitted by Barence
Barence writes: The former manager of Pink Floyd has labelled attempts to clamp down on music file-sharing as a "waste of time". "Not only are they a waste of time, they make the law offensive. They are comparable to prohibition in the US in the 1920s," said Peter Jenner, who's now the emeritus president of the International Music Managers' Forum. "It's absurd to expect ordinary members of the public to think about what they're allowed to do [with CDs, digital downloads, etc]... and then ask themselves whether it's legal or not." The comments come as Britain's biggest ISP, BT, said it was confident that Britain's Digital Economy Act — which could result in file-sharers losing their internet connection — would be overturned in the courts, because it doesn't comply with European laws on privacy.

Submission + - Minnesota Short Sale (minnesotashortsales.net)

Submitted by krislindahl
krislindahl writes: Instead of accepting foreclosure and surrendering your home, a Minnesota short sale allow you to make a deal with your lender so you can avoid foreclosure and the other pitfalls that come with it.
Apple

Submission + - Phantom Emails Plague iPhone 4 Users (thinq.co.uk)

Submitted by Stoobalou
Stoobalou writes: iPhone 4 users have been reporting phantom emails appearing in their in boxes.

The mysterious mails, which appear with 'No Sender' in the from line and 'No subject' in the subject line are causing much annoyance as they cannot be read or deleted in the normal way.
Data Storage

Submission + - IBM botches IT storage repair, kills bank systems (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: IBM personnel were blamed by a major Singapore bank after they reportedly botched a "routine" repair job on a disk storage subsystem, resulting in a seven-hour systems outage. The outage was apparently triggered during a repair job on a component within the disk storage subsystem connected to the bank's mainframe. IBM decided to swap out the offending component at 3am but an "oudated procedure" used by the repairer "inadvertently triggered a malfunction in the multiple layers of systems redundancies". The outage led to a gushing apology from the bank's chief executive overnight.

Submission + - There's Nothing New in Windows 7 SP 1 (itworld.com) 1

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: If your business is like many, you've been waiting for Windows 7 SP1 before even thinking about moving from Windows XP to Windows 7. But now it turns out that you really didn't need to do that, says blogger Steven Vaughan-Nichols. The reason: The Windows 7 SP1 beta 'is nothing more than a round-up of previous fixes already delivered through Windows Update.'

Submission + - ACTA talks hit snag in EU (idg.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "The European Union "will not swallow" U.S. hypocrisy when negotiating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, said European Commissioner for Trade, Karel De Gucht, during a presentation to the European Parliament. He was updating members of the parliament on the state of play of negotiations on the ACTA. But despite his tough talking and apparent hardline stance, many MEPs were unconvinced that the revised ACTA agreement will safeguard civil rights."
Image

Prince Says Internet Is Over Screenshot-sm 450

Posted by samzenpus from the it-was-fun-while-it-lasted dept.
the_arrow writes "According to the artist currently known as Prince, 'The internet's completely over.' At least that what he says in an interview with the British newspaper Mirror. Quoting Prince: 'The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you.'"
Government

California To Drop State Rock Over Asbestos Concerns 256

Posted by Soulskill from the your-tax-dollars-at-work dept.
Diamonddavej writes "The LA Times reports that Californian legislators are close to dropping the translucent green rock Serpentine as the state rock of California because of its tenuous association with chrysotile asbestos. Sen. Gloria Romero declares in her bill (SB 624) that Serpentine should be dropped as California's state rock because it 'contains the deadly mineral chrysotile asbestos, a known carcinogen, exposure to which increases the risk of the cancer mesothelioma.' The bill has backing from mesothelioma support groups. Critics point out that Serpentine is a group of 20 different minerals, and Californian Serpentine rarely contains much chrysotile, never mind its dangerous fibrous asbestos form. Its is suspected that lawyers involved in asbestos compensation claims and cleanup companies will profit from the bill. Vast tracts of California where bedrock is made of Serpentine could be declared hazardous to health... even if it contains no crysotile at all! It looks like SB 624 will be passed; it won unanimous bi-partisan support from an Assembly committee last week."
NASA

No Samples On Japan's Hayabusa Asteroid Probe 147

Posted by kdawson from the one-long-fezzle dept.
eldavojohn writes "Reports are coming in that JAXA's Hayabusa probe may have come up empty-handed in its bid to collect asteroid matter. There may be gas in the probe but no dust samples as many hoped. Murphy's Law seemed to ride with Hayabusa. 'After landing in 2005 on the Itokawa asteroid, which is about one-third mile long and shaped like a potato, the probe's sample-capture mechanism went awry. To the public's dismay, JAXA officials said they were not sure whether any samples had been collected. Next, the probe's robotic rover, meant to take photos and temperature readings on the asteroid, inexplicably floated off into space and was never heard from again. Worse yet, after Hayabusa took off from the asteroid, all four of NEC's ion engines shut down. So did all 12 of the chemical-fueled rocket engines made by another space industry giant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The probe was left drifting in space. Then, for more than seven weeks, for reasons still not clear, there were no communication signals from the probe. Public dismay quickly turned to derision and, eventually, indifference.' The probe did return, however, and JAXA hoped to salvage something, but now it appears that the only thing it accomplished was one long and error-prone journey."

Comment Re:Yay for common sense (Score 1) 612

by ICLKennyG (#32771634) Attached to: Zoho Don't Need No Stinking Ph.D. Programmers
Let's just get it on the table, that if you chose to forgo a degree rather than get one, you are going to be fighting an uphill battle as to why someone should read your resume for the rest of your life.

Yes, part of getting a degree is simply showing an employer that you are willing to take shit for 4+ years, but to almost all of them, it's an important qualification. TFA is a neat story for sure, but don't decide to eschew college for entering the work force because you think you will be better able to get a job. College (and grad schools) are not a job security guarantee, but they do improve your odds. I for one would rather spend a few extra years racking up *reasonable* debt (thank you state schools) and have a better chance to get an interview than have to hope the HR manager isn't so short sighted that my resume just gets thrown away. You can't impress someone with your skills if they don't meet you. The degree is a better ticket in the front door.

All that said, I have finished 7 years of advanced education. My grand total (excluding room/board which I would have needed anyway) was $60,000. I have $10k in loans. I'll take 10k in loans and an advanced degree, thank you. Your perspective may be different if you went somewhere private like Harvard and owed closer to $300k Worse yet, if you went somewhere SHITTY and private and had a crap degree that no one heard of and $300k in debt.

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