Comment Re:About split (Score 1) 186
Google docs even lets you organize split files in a folder and share the whole lot together. Death to rapidshare!
Comment Not necessarily a thin client (Score 2, Insightful) 664
Google will also allow some data and applications to be accessed offline. Users will be able to listen to music and read eBooks without an internet connection, for example, as well as accessing files stored on USB flash drives. Any application that supports HTML5's offline mode will also be accessible without a net connection.
This basically opens up multitudes of possibilities for offline apps. If you can plug in a USB flash drive, why not a USB hard drive? If you can store and listen to music offline, why not video? And if everything runs in the browser, it just means that the API is javascript. You can do a lot with javascript.
Also, being open source means that forks can add whatever regular linux functionality they want.
I'm interested in what they're doing with X11. Anyone looked at the code?
Submission + - Automatically Generated Status Updates (gizmag.com)
ElectricSteve writes: If you thought the status updates you already see on social networks weren't quite inane enough, prepare for the next level — automatically generated status updates. European researchers are working on a project called Awareness Services and Systems Towards Theory and Realization (ASTRA), and exploring the concept they call "pervasive awareness".
Submission + - First programmable quantum computer is revealed (pcauthority.com.au)
SwiftyNifty writes: The world's first universal programmable quantum computer has been unveiled in Colarado by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, capable of processing two quantum bits or qubits.
Submission + - Mercedes-Benz Launches Mbrace Telematics System (motorauthority.com)
thecarchik writes: Mercedes-Benz, together with Hughes Telematics, is launching a new feature today that will allow owners of its vehicles access to a 18 different services via a nifty telematics system. Called Mbrace, the new system offers everything from a vehicle locator for crowded car parks, somebody to direct you if you get lost or even the ability to order online--all whilst sitting in the driver's seat.
Similar to Ford's Sync system and GM's OnStar, mbrace also enables pairing of smart phones like iPhones and BlackBerrys to the car's electronic interface. Drivers can then use their phones to lock or unlock their cars remotely.
Similar to Ford's Sync system and GM's OnStar, mbrace also enables pairing of smart phones like iPhones and BlackBerrys to the car's electronic interface. Drivers can then use their phones to lock or unlock their cars remotely.
Submission + - We Really Don't Know Jack About Maintenance (acm.org)
davecb writes: The ACM has been kind enough to print Paul Stachour's and my "jack" article about Software Maintenance. Paul first pointed out we and our managers were being foolish back in 1984, when we were still running Unix V7, and if anything it's been getting worse. Turns out maintenance has been a "solved problem in computer science" since at least then, and we're just beginning to rediscover it.
Submission + - Microsoft open sources .NET Micro Framework (tuxradar.com) 1
An anonymous reader writes: Back in July, Microsoft announced it was making .NET available under its Community Promise, which in theory allowed free software developers to use the technology without fear of patent lawsuits. Not surprisingly, many free software geeks were unconvinced by the promise (after all, what's a promise compared to an actual open licence?), but now Microsoft has taken things to the next level by releasing the .NET Micro Framework under the Apache 2.0 licence. Yes, you read that correctly: a sizeable chunk of .NET is about to go open source.
Submission + - Flyer Arrested After Declining to Show ID (philosecurity.org) 1
Sherri Davidoff writes: "Officials at the Metropolitan Detention Center have confirmed that a traveler was arrested and is being held for $1000 bail after declining to show ID to TSA at the ABQ airport. He is being charged with "concealing identity, disorderly conduct, refusing to obey an officer, and criminal trespass."
"Phil Mocek, a Seattle area native, was traveling with his friend Jesse Gallagos when he politely declined to show ID to TSA agents...""
"Phil Mocek, a Seattle area native, was traveling with his friend Jesse Gallagos when he politely declined to show ID to TSA agents...""
Submission + - USPTO Bilski-es Amazon CEO's Patent Claims
theodp writes: As the Supreme Court grapples with clarifying what's not patently obvious, it's worth noting that the USPTO has already started using Bilski to torpedo patent claims. In dismissing Amazon.com's patent claims (pdf) for its Method and System for Placing a Purchase Order Via a Communications Network (a 1-Click spin-off), a USPTO Examiner cited Bilski, explaining that elements of CEO Jeff Bezos' gift delivery invention 'may be performed largely within the human mind.' A NY Post reporter arrived at essentially the same conclusion — way back in 2002. Attorneys for self-proclaimed patent reformer Amazon are appealing the non-final rejection.
Submission + - Hackers fail to hack Brazilian Voting Machines 2
blueser writes: From Nov 10th to Nov 13th the Brazilian Government hosted a public hacking contest to test the robustness of its voting machines. 38 participants from private and public IT companies (including the Brazilian Federal Police) were divided into 9 teams which tried several different approaches to try to tamper the software installed on the machines, and even physically interfere on other stages of the process. All attempts (aside from a minor one which would not compromise the overall results) failed, and observations from the participants and neutral observers will be taken into account to improve even further the process. The official announcement for the contest can be read (in Portuguese) here, and a summary of the results (also in Portuguese) can be read on Brazilian newspapers. Brazilian voting machines use Linux
Submission + - Diabetic Mood Tattoos Measure Blood Sugar Levels (msn.com)
mbstone writes: Aside from ending painful daily fingerpricking for millions,the invention of the color-changing blood sugar tattoo should also reduce the vast amount spent on glucose test strips ($1/test). Next, I want to see artistic diabetic tattoos that morph according to the wearer's blood sugar.
Comment Reporters are basically bloggers then (Score 5, Insightful) 131
Reading this, it strikes me that news sites are just big blogging sites. No blogger would want their content hidden behind a paywall, and reporters are more and more just professional bloggers.
Comment Am I missing something here? (Score 1) 608
But there's another possible interpretation. Perhaps the particle's spin is completely determined – but depends on something else about the state of the universe. That would be like a player in "Twenty Questions" who has decided his object is a donkey whenever his opponent starts a question with "Is," and that his object a horse otherwise (or using any other arbitrary but consistent rule). For example, if his opponent asked, "Is it something with big ears?" he would say "yes," but if his opponent asked, "Does it have big ears?" he'd say "no." In that case, his answers are predetermined even though he has no single object in mind.
Doesn't this interpretation also apply to two entangled particles separated by a great distance? Couldn't they just be responding to measurements according to the same pre-determined algorithm in their basic nature, without there being any implication for the free will of the observers?
