Comment This was news in 2001 (Score 1) 191
I know it is too much to ask for Slasdot not to repeat old ideas as news, but doesn't anyone else remember the best invention of 2001? http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=slug+eating+robot&aq=f&oq=
Entire Transcript of RIAA's Only Trial Now Online 315
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The entire transcript of the RIAA's 'perfect storm,' its first and only trial, which resulted in a $222,000 verdict in a case involving 24 MP3's having a retail value of $23.76, is now available online. After over a year of trying, we have finally obtained the transcript of the Duluth, Minnesota, jury trial which took place October 2, 2007, to October 4, 2007, in Capitol Records v. Thomas. Its 643 pages represent a treasure trove for (a) lawyers representing defendants in other RIAA cases, (b) technologists anxious to see how a MediaSentry investigator and the RIAA's expert witness combined to convince the jurors that the RIAA had proved its case, and (c) anybody interested in finding out about such things as the early-morning October 4th argument in which the RIAA lawyer convinced the judge to make the mistake which forced him to eventually vacate the jury's verdict, and the testimony of SONY BMG's Jennifer Pariser in which she 'misspoke' according to the RIAA's Cary Sherman when she testified under oath that making a copy from one's CD to one's computer is 'stealing.' The transcript was a gift from the 'Joel Fights Back Against RIAA' team defending SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, in Boston, Massachusetts. I have the transcript in 3 segments: October 2nd (278 pages(PDF), October 3rd (263 pages)(PDF), and October 4th (100 pages)(PDF)."
Comment DRCLN WONDERS IF RAY KURZWEIL IS AN IDIOT (Score 1) 630
He doesn't even address the question about soul, he addresses the question of consciousness. Not the same thing. His answer presupposes that there is no such thing as a soul, no creative spark, only emerging properties of complex systems. That is a very narrow and pessimistic view. A person with that sort of view might as well just crawl away to die, what would be the point of going on?
Submission + - Patent Reform Bill Approved by House Committe
Alex Forster writes: The House Committee on the Judiciary approved far-reaching legislation to reform the nation's patent system Wednesday.
The Patent Reform Act of 2007 largely reflects the IT sector's lobbying effort to curtail lengthy, expensive patent infringement lawsuits, but Wednesday's committee deliberations centered on finding compromises acceptable to opponents — namely the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, manufacturers, and large research universities — so that the bill could win approval.
Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., described the current patent system as inefficient, bogged down by inappropriate litigation rules, unreliably funded, and resulting in patents of "questionable quality." The bill would make it harder to secure a patent and easier for rivals to challenge one, and it would change how courts determine an infringed patent's value.
Submission + - Nicotine is the new wonder drug. (wired.com)
Fantastic Lad writes: Smoking may be bad for you, but Researchers and biotech companies are quietly developing pharmaceuticals that are decidedly good for brains, bowels, blood vessels and even immune systems — and they're inspired by tobacco's active ingredient: nicotine. Nicotine acts on the acetylcholine receptors in the brain, stimulating and regulating the release of a slew of brain chemicals, including seratonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Now drugs derived from nicotine and the research on nicotine receptors are in clinical trials for everything from helping to heal wounds, to depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, anger management and anxiety. Smoking will kill you, but also keep you in good health? Another story about nicotine warding off Parkison's disease here seems to agree. -Who knew?
Submission + - Apple plans cheaper, Nano-based phone (reuters.co.uk)
Squidlychoi writes: As if we all have not had enough of iPhone this-and-that in recent days, Reuters is reporting that Apple plans to launch a cheaper version of the iPhone in the fourth quarter that could be based on the ultra-slim iPod Nano music player, according to a JP Morgan report.
Submission + - Your Own Personal Napster (esquire.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Open an email account. Send yourself some music. Share it with the world. So simple and devious, the record industry might never recover. Get the full story at http://www.esquire.com/the-side/music/songmashups0 70907.
Submission + - WikiWrit: The Holy Book Anyone Can Edit (wikiwrit.com)
boyko.at.netqos writes: "Take Wikipedia. Infighting aside, it's quite a remarkable source of information. Thousands of people edit it every day, so you'd think it would be a chaotic mess of competing agendas, but it is a valuable resource for knowledge. So I was wondering what would happen if you took a holy text, and let anyone edit it. I started uploading one "real" piece of religious text — the beginning of Genesis — and just let people go at it.
Now, from the pages of WikiWrit!: "3:4. Both of them were naked at this point, and the Human saw genitals for the first time, and was so surprised that they too grew genitals out of the sheer amazement of it. 3:5. It is not known if the first Human became Male or Female because nobody except God, Satan, Bob, or an Enchanted hobo saw it happen, and none of them remember which of them it was. 3:6. By this time, however the other eggs had begun hatching, and soon the Human with Genitals was surrounded by a group of amazed and genital-ed humans. Thus it was that there were sufficient humans to reproduce without mutation.3:7. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone, the pot tree sprouted apples, for it was not a pot tree at all.""
Now, from the pages of WikiWrit!: "3:4. Both of them were naked at this point, and the Human saw genitals for the first time, and was so surprised that they too grew genitals out of the sheer amazement of it. 3:5. It is not known if the first Human became Male or Female because nobody except God, Satan, Bob, or an Enchanted hobo saw it happen, and none of them remember which of them it was. 3:6. By this time, however the other eggs had begun hatching, and soon the Human with Genitals was surrounded by a group of amazed and genital-ed humans. Thus it was that there were sufficient humans to reproduce without mutation.3:7. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone, the pot tree sprouted apples, for it was not a pot tree at all.""
Submission + - Livejournal/Six Apart begin mass-deleting accounts
LowbrowDeluxe writes: Livejournal has begun deleting accounts based solely on their listing 'illegal' interests. While Livejournal itself has yet to make any official statement on the more than 500 accounts already suspended, the President of the parent company has already been interviewed and claimed that the journals in question did not meet the criteria of the environment they wished to create. While the keywords used to choose the accounts were clearly related to child pornography, incest, and rape, accounts such as Harry Potter fan groups, and rape survivor groups have also been suspended, appearantly permanently. She a related news article here: http://news.com.com/Mass+deletion+sparks+LiveJourn al+revolt+-+page+2/2100-1025_3-6187619-2.html?tag= st.num
Or just go to Livejournal and watch the panic spread.
Submission + - Scientists Identify How Body Senses Cold
Vicissidude writes: As an ice cream melts in your mouth this summer, take a moment to contemplate the protein that may be bringing you that sense of cool relief — and numbing your tongue. Researchers have pinned down the particular protein in mice used by the body to sense cold temperatures, and think that a similar one in humans does the same job. Mice rely on a single protein, called TRPM8, to sense both cold temperatures and menthol, the compound that gives mints their cool sensation.
The sensor also controls the pain-relieving effect of cool temperatures, but does not seem to play an important role in the response to painfully cold temperatures below 10 C. TRPM8 is in the same family as the protein that detects heat and capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers hot. These proteins lie in the cell membranes of select neurons, and form channels that open and close in response to external signals.
Submission + - "Smart Chips" in Laptop Batteries & Pr
queenb**ch writes: "Well, we used to have a very good relationship with Compaq, so when they became part of HP, that relationship just sort of rolled over for us naturally. We'd always bought HP printers since they have a fairly high duty cycle. Recently, we discovered that the toner cartridges that were "empty" were, in fact, not empty at all. They had hit their maximum number of "passes". Now it doesn't matter if you print one blue period on an other-wise black & white document or if you print a flyer with a blue background. Either way, that's a pass on your toner cartridge. Now I can't help but think that this is done to increase sales of toner cartridges. Nothing we've been able to do has been able to get any of our newer printers to use the toner cartridge to completion. Never mind the waste, disposal, landfill, etc. that this generates, we're rather upset because of the cost of new toner cartridges when we're being forced cover because we have to toss out ones that aren't really empty yet.
Now, we've discovered that some of the laptop makers are doing the same thing — putting "smart chips" in the laptop batteries. Once the laptop battery hits its magic number of charges, it ceases to function. So far we've not found a way to hot wire around, flash the chip or remove the chip to get this perfectly functioning battery to work again. The only workaround we've found so far is to purchase a brand new battery. Now, for some of the older laptops, this is more than the laptop itself is worth and so we're replacing units that should have a much longer useful life.
In neither case is this information made available at the time of purchase, nor have we been able to have the manufacturers tell us ,for the equipment we already own, what the "magic number" is for either the laptop batteries or the toner cartridges."
Now, we've discovered that some of the laptop makers are doing the same thing — putting "smart chips" in the laptop batteries. Once the laptop battery hits its magic number of charges, it ceases to function. So far we've not found a way to hot wire around, flash the chip or remove the chip to get this perfectly functioning battery to work again. The only workaround we've found so far is to purchase a brand new battery. Now, for some of the older laptops, this is more than the laptop itself is worth and so we're replacing units that should have a much longer useful life.
In neither case is this information made available at the time of purchase, nor have we been able to have the manufacturers tell us
Submission + - Watch LIVE or Recorded TV on your PSP using Beyond
Submission + - A Publisher's Guide to Fighting Google News
NewsCloud writes: "After acquiring the Tribune Company for $8 billion, Sam Zell said:
Yet, the newspapers have left the content wide open. Here are nine ways to lock down the content of a Web site to stop Google from sending you all that traffic.""If all of the newspapers in America did not allow Google to steal their content for nothing, what would Google do?" he asked. "We have a situation today where effectively the content is being paid for by the newspapers and stolen by Google, etcetera. That can last for a short time, but it can't last forever. I think Google and the boys understand that."
Submission + - Freest Phone Calls Ever?
drowe67 writes: "Li Yuqian (Beijing, China) and I (Adelaide, South Australia) just made the first VOIP call using the IP04 Open Hardware IP-PBX. Unlike any other PBX projects the IP04 hardware is free (as in speech). Anyone is welcome to copy, modify, manufacture and hack the design. The hardware was designed using open source gEDA CAD software, and it even runs uClinux and Asterisk. Could these be the freest phone calls ever? Even the inventor of the telephone Alexander Graham Bell was wrapped up in 19th century patent wars over his hardware!"
Submission + - Xbox 360 Read Ring of Death - Fixed?
PacoDG writes: "Basically, got the red ring on my 360 the other night. Went searching through message boards for help. Found out and read about the old wives tale of the "towel trick" .. since I had nothing to lose, tried it, it worked. Full details, instructions how I did it, embedded video, all at http://www.xbox360rally.com/the-red-ring-of-deathc ure-found/ Basic info, but informative for all those people who have heard about this theory, but never thought of trying it (screw waiting a month to send out my Xbox to Microsoft having to wait to get it back, I got a Halo 3 beta to get to)"
