viniosity - Slashdot User

Submission + - Novell Updates Indemnification Program

Submitted by on Friday October 12, 2007 @02:40AM

An anonymous reader writes: After a whirlwind couple of days that included Steve Ballmer's latest FUD eruption, and perhaps not coincidentally the first patent infringement lawsuit filed against Linux, Novell has announced that they have updated their technology assurance (indemnification) program. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is that Microsoft is apparently extending their patent covenant to GPLv3, once there is a v3 product included in SUSE Linux Enterprise.

Submission + - Retailers Estimate Xbox 360 Failure Rate as 33% (adam.ne.jp)

Submitted by

News for nerds

on Monday July 02, 2007 @07:50PM

News for nerds writes: "Dailytech reveals that EB Games held conference calls for its Canadian stores informing them of the new policy changes and revealing alarming failure rates of the Xbox 360. "The real numbers were between 30 to 33 percent," said former EB Games employee. An anonymous Best Buy customer service department manager said that failure rates for the console were "between a quarter to a third" of all units sold."

Submission + - iPhone -any phones for the Deaf?

Submitted by

I_am_Dodie

on Saturday June 30, 2007 @06:43PM

I_am_Dodie writes: "When will phones be out for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing? We thought iPhones will have video phones in it but not! Are there wireless phones out there that has video phones built in where we can talk (visual) with sign language over back and forth as Hearing folks do with thier wireless phones? Thank You!"

Submission + - Are laptop batteries the next "printer ink"

Submitted by Quixote on Monday June 25, 2007 @12:20AM

Quixote writes: Sometime back I bought a Dell Inspiron laptop because Dell was offering a very good deal on it. A few weeks after the warranty expired, the battery suddenly died. It was as if the battery was non-existent: the laptop would shutdown if unplugged even if the battery had been in the laptop the whole time. When plugged in, the battery charging light would keep flashing. This seemed quite puzzling, since just days before this, the battery used to give me a good 2 hours or so of use.

Searching around on the web to see if the flashing lights meant anything, I came across this page. It seems like lots of people have been reporting the same symptoms: just after the warranty expires, the battery mysteriously "dies". Even the Dell forums are replete with posts from unhappy users.

The solution from Dell is: buy a new battery. But they aren't cheap: a Dell one runs you about $100.

I know I should have known better than buying a Dell (cue the "Dude!" jokes). But this begs a bigger question: is this legal (it certainly doesn't seem ethical)? How many of these (working) batteries end up in the landfill? Have laptop batteries become the next "printer ink", forcing us to keep buying new ones?

Submission + - RIAA must turn over attorney billing records

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18, 2007 @11:35AM

An anonymous reader writes: Usually most people settle with the RIAA for a few thousand dollars, but Debbie took the case to court and asked for the RIAA to produce records of what files she supposedly downloaded, along with the dates of the downloads. The RIAA couldn't produce the records and offered to withdraw the case. Now here is where it gets interesting, Debbie asked to be awarded reasonable attorneys fees for her ordeal and submitted her expenses to the court. The RIAA argued that the mother was asking for too much, to which the judge basically said, "Well if you think her fees are too much, show me yours."

Submission + - Female Gamers have More Sex

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15, 2007 @01:50PM

An anonymous reader writes: A Belgian research firm found that girls who never play computer games have less sex than girls who do play games on their PC or gaming consoles. Breeze says the girls who do play games have sex 4.3 times a week, while the girls who never play games only go to bed 3.2 times a week.

Submission + - Congress Wants ISPs to Log Your Online Life

Submitted by

walmartshopper67

on Monday February 12, 2007 @05:50PM

walmartshopper67 writes: "Crooks and Liars is reporting that Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) has introduced a bill that would require ISPs to "record all users' surfing activity, IM conversations and email traffic indefinitely". The bill would impose heavy fines and jail time on ISPs that do not save the required information. Not that this will pass, but come on, how can anyone think this is a good idea?"

Submission + - Scientists increasingly sure about global warming

Submitted by Marcika on Friday February 02, 2007 @05:24AM

Marcika writes: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the authoritative scientist group on global warming, published a new report on Friday (Financial Times article). Conclusions: The likely rise in sea levels can be quantified more accurately between about 28cm and 43cm (2001 predictions gave a range from 9cm to 88cm). The arctic ice cap is likely to melt, but the Antarctic ice shield is safe due to increased precipitation. The panel thinks that it is 90% certain that human action is shaping the climate, up from 50% 6 years ago. Even before publication, scientists warn that the report is too optimistic (NY Times article).

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