Comment Re:Not convincing and very lame. (Score 1) 607
Also, he was from UC Berkeley, that notorious bastion of right-wing extremism...
Comment Re:Why mess with it (Score 2, Informative) 607
I seem to remember when InterNIC had sole control before they turned to IANA and the split up registration system that it cost $75/year to register a domain. And I seem to remember this because I still have the faxed receipts and my faxed domain registration submission from 1997. Lest we forget, InterNIC sucked, AND was expensive. It was also a much bigger extortion racket then we have now, where I can get a 2 year registration from Joker for $25.
Comment Re:Increased penetration (Score 1) 987
The problem with making a completely free version available is that there's no point in buying it later. Very few people will buy it later out of guilt.
"provide my entire book for free" is very different from "here's a demo of our first level."
The rule of thumb is, though, don't provide anything electronically unless you want it to get looted, stolen, and otherwise abused.
Comment Re:Educational materials especially should be Free (Score 1) 987
Clearly you've suffered enough : )
Video Game Adaptation In the Works For A Song of Fire and Ice 183
On Wednesday, French game development studio Cyanide announced that they will be working with George R. R. Martin to bring his popular fantasy series, A Song of Fire and Ice, to the realm of video games. The press release implies that there will be more than one game, and the games will come out for PCs and "next-gen consoles." Apparently an HBO television series is in the works as well, in addition to board and card games related to the books.
Red Hat Returns To the Linux Desktop 192
CWmike writes "Red Hat used to be in the desktop business along with all the other Linux distributors. Then, they left. Now, however, Red Hat is switching from Xen to KVM for virtualization. As part of that switchover, Red Hat will be using not only KVM, but the SolidICE/SPICE desktop virtualization and management software suite to introduce a new server-based desktop virtualization system. Does this mean that Red Hat will be getting back into the Linux desktop business? That's the question I posed to Red Hat CTO Brian Stevens, in a phone call after the Red Hat/KVM press conference, and he told me that, 'Yes. Red Hat will indeed be pushing the Linux desktop again.'"
Draconian DRM Revealed In Windows 7 1127
TechForensics writes "A few days' testing of Windows 7 has already disclosed some draconian DRM, some of it unrelated to media files. A legitimate copy of Photoshop CS4 stopped functioning after we clobbered a nagging registration screen by replacing a DLL with a hacked version. With regard to media files, the days of capturing an audio program on your PC seem to be over (if the program originated on that PC). The inputs of your sound card are severely degraded in software if the card is also playing an audio program (tested here with Grooveshark). This may be the tip of the iceberg. Being in bed with the RIAA is bad enough, but locking your own files away from you is a tactic so outrageous it may kill the OS for many persons. Many users will not want to experiment with a second sound card or computer just to record from online sources, or boot up under a Linux that supports ntfs-3g just to control their files." Read on for more details of this user's findings.
Microsoft Slaps $250K Bounty On Conficker Worm 258
alphadogg writes "The spreading Conficker/Downadup worm is now viewed as such a significant threat that it's inspired the formation of a posse to stop it, with Microsoft leading the charge by offering a $250,000 reward to bring the Conficker malware bad guys to justice. The money will be paid for 'information that results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on the Internet,' Microsoft said today in a statement, adding it is fostering a partnership with Internet registries and DNA providers such as ICANN, ORG, and NeuStar as well as security vendors Symantec and Arbor Networks, among others, to stop the Conficker worm once and for all. Conficker, also called Downadup, is estimated to have infected at least 10 million PCs. It has been slowly but surely spreading since November. Its main trick is to disable anti-malware protection and block access to anti-malware vendors' Web sites."
Comment Re:Web 2.0 ftw (Score 1) 625
I care. USENET is still the only viable place to find older software that has fallen from the realm of existance. It's also the fasted download feed I have. I download all my Linux ISOs from a.b.w.linux or a.b.l.iso because I get a little over a meg a second from Giganews to my cable modem. Shoot..it's faster for me to download movies and store them on my machine than it is to rip the physical DVD.
USENET is in a unique position to attack the spam problem if anybody cared. Since everybody sees roughly the same feed, you could set up a global killfile and have people flag spam messages. If a message meets your personal criteria (# of flags, keywords, bayesian filter, etc) then your client hides it. There hasn't been any real innovation in non-theft-oriented newsgroup readers in years.
Submission + - TOP500 Supercomputing list (top500.org)
Jerry Smith writes: "http://www.top500.org/ has compiled once again The Supercomputer TOP500. Five new entries in the top 10, number 2 and 3. Number 4 is.. a debutant from India! Check the list in its full glory at http://www.top500.org/list/2007/11/100, and think of whát supercomputers are being witheld by governments and private companies, and what they are used for..."
Submission + - Cheap Hydrogen? (yahoo.com)
outofoptions writes: "US researchers have developed a method of producing hydrogen gas from biodegradable organic material, potentially providing an abundant source of this clean-burning fuel, according to a study released Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071112/ts_alt_afp/ussciencefuel;_ylt=AtsR4CkLSeNTGh1IRTTG0jkDW7oF"
Submission + - Mayor of Birmingham, Al. Asks For OLPC Exception (al.com)
BhamGray writes: "Larry Langford, the new Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, has asked the One Laptop Per Child organization to consider providing students in his City with laptops for the 2008 school year. The City of Birmingham would purchase the laptops through OLPC at a price of around $200 each. This would be a departure from the OLPC's "developing nations" target, but the organization's representatives are quoted in the article as having been persuaded by Mayor Langford to consider it."
Feed Engadget: Crealev builds a levitating lamp (engadget.com)
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
We haven't heard of Dutch design outfit Crealev before, but the company says it's developed a "new levitation concept which is able to produce a very high levitation height combined with a low power dissipation and excellent stability" -- and apparently the best way to show that off is this series of levitating lamps. Unveiled at last week's Dutch Design Week event, the lamps are the product of designer Angela Jansen. We're assuming they're magnetic in some way, but Crealev's website is pretty cagey with the details, only saying that it's a "proprietary technology." Either way, we want one.Read -- Crealev webiste
Read -- Video of the lamps in action
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Feed Engadget: Last chance to help Engadget Energize Education in the DonorsChoose blogger chal (engadget.com)
Filed under: Announcements
You've already heard our impassioned plea; we won't go over that again. You know all the details of the challenge; we're not going to rehash them here. This is just a quick heads up that today is your last chance to contribute to the Engadget Energizes Education charity drive on DonorsChoose.org, as well as a gentle reminder that we're still far from our goal. Forty-nine generous souls have banded together to donate almost $6,800 as of this writing, funding a variety of projects that will impact over one thousand disadvantaged public school children. But our goal is $25,000, meaning that as it stands, thousands of additional students will go without the critical technology they need to start life on an even playing field. Please, do whatever you can to help this worthy cause reach as many young lives as possible. Thanks for your time, and your selflessness.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
