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Businesses

Rockstar's Road To Ruin 59

Posted by Zonk from the was-a-nice-ride dept.
Via GamePolitics, an exerpt from an upcoming Wired print magazine article on Rockstar's slide from grace. The article outlines a number of the problems we've discussed here on the site, such as their numerous lawsuits, the 'Hot Coffee' scandal, and stock-option problems. At four pages it's only a teaser for the longer article in the magazine, but it's still very much worth taking a look. "The irony is thick: The company that defined virtual criminality is now associated with the real thing. Rockstar and Take-Two executives declined to answer questions for this article, but their rich and troubled story is revealed by official documents and former employees. It seems the blokes forgot that in life, as in Grand Theft Auto, there are repercussions for the choices you make."
Data Storage

Submission + - Fibre Channel pioneer is pushing Ethernet

Submitted by jcatcw
jcatcw writes: Greg Scherer retired last year after 24 years with the Fibre Channel networking company Emulex. Now he loves Ethernet as VP at Neterion Inc., a manufacturer of emerging 10GbE server and storage network adapter cards. He told Computerworld:

I don't think Fibre Channel has anything to worry about in the short term from Ethernet, but if you look out ten years from now, Ethernet has been like a tidal wave. Anything that can be done with IP will eventually be just because of its cost structure. I think long term that's going to be Fibre Channel's detriment. It's never been able to penetrate below that data center level. Any technology that can't be pervasive across more than one tier, long term, has to watch its back against technologies that can. If you look at where the general Ethernet and standards are going, there's lots of new technologies that augment Ethernet to give it 100%, and if not, within spitting distance, of what more tailored protocols can do.
Security

Submission + - Online security? Not my problem, say some UK users

Submitted by Lemmingman
Lemmingman writes: According to Get Safe Online, in the UK:

"Fewer than half (48%) of internet users feel they are responsible for their own online safety. One-in-six (16%) believe their bank is wholly responsible for their online protection, whilst 13% feel that it is up to their internet service provider."

http://www.getsafeonline.org/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=14 49
The Media

Submission + - WindowsITPro Test Drives Kubuntu

Submitted by
johnlittledotorg
johnlittledotorg writes: "Mark Joseph Edwards at WindowsITPro took Kubuntu for a spin and seems to have to enjoyed himself. "I wanted to see what that was like so I popped the CD into the system, booted from it, and installed the entire operating system with the greatest of ease. My Orinoco network card, nVidia video card, sound card, and DVD drive all worked without any configuration on my part other than entering the SSID and security key for the wireless networking. I was impressed.""
The Courts

Submission + - Kaleidescape Beats DVD CCA Re: DVD Server

Submitted by Ripper
Ripper writes: Video server manufacturer Kaleidescape has beaten the DVD CCA, the group that licenses DVD decryption/encryption technology to every manufacturer of legitimate DVD players. The group had argued that Kaleidescape breached a licensing agreement by making a product that enables (indeed encourages) users to rip copy-protected DVDs onto a hard drive. Kaleidescape argued that nothing in the contract says anything about prohibiting such functionality. The judge agreed. The broader copyright issues that could have emerged during the non-jury trial, in fact did not, so the case has little implication for those who want to rush out and rip their DVDs, or make products that do so. The judge also stopped short of agreeing that, in fact, the DVD CCA is an innovation-stifling cartel.
Software

Journal Journal: OpenOffice 2.2

Journal by Odiseo70

At OpenOffice's web site we can get the new release of the suite. Bug fixing and new features, specially for Base and Calc are now present, including the ability to import Excel Sheets with Pivot tables from external data, among other thing, according to the release notes.
Businesses

Submission + - Exempt Employees and the fight against Overtime

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: I'm employed as a Software Engineer, to clarify; I'm a combination third-level tech support and systems engineer. I work for a fairly large company in Michigan. My boss, under the stress of completing the latest huge project, has started to demand that I, and the rest of my team, complete mandatory overtime to meet some very shortsighted deadlines. I'm an exempt employee, which means that I make a salary and am not required to keep track of my time each week. I don't feel I'm compensated well enough to work unlimited hours, but that seems to be my boss's goal. What options do I have in restricting my employer and my boss's ability to destroy every little bit of my free time while still staying employed?
Privacy

Students Sue Anti-Plagiarism Service 713

Posted by Zonk from the students,-regrettably,-rarely-have-a-lot-of-rights dept.
jazzbazzfazz writes "It seems that some students in Virginia are not happy with the anti-plagiarism service Turnitin. The company checks prose submitted by its customers for signs that it has been copied in whole or part by comparing it to a large database of works that it maintains. Trouble is, it also adds the submitted prose to its files and stores it for use by the company in future scans, which the students feel is illegal use of their copyrighted materials. I think they've got an excellent case, especially since they seem to have prepared for this eventuality: they're A-students, never been accused of plagiarism, and they formally copyrighted their papers prior to their submission to Turnitin."
Quickies

Submission + - China bans porn messages and pics to phones

Submitted by Awksjaw
Awksjaw writes: Chinese police are warning mobile users to think again before sending pornographic pictures or text messages from their phones. Anyone caught sending explicit messages could face a fine of 3,000 yuan ($388) and up to two weeks in prison.

If you are caught selling mucky mobile content you could spend up to three years in prison.
Software

Submission + - Blackboard Not Playing Nice with Vista on Campuses

Submitted by
scott3778
scott3778 writes: "On college campuses, Microsoft's Vista operating system may be in danger of failing courses that use Blackboard, a key software program for communication between teachers and students. Some campuses in the U.S. and elsewhere using Blackboard are discovering that the software and some of its functionality is being hindered as students and teachers begin to update their systems with Microsoft Vista. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2109454,00.as p"
Google

Google to Viacom - The Law is Clear, and On Our Side 290

Posted by Zonk from the time-is-on-their-side-too-i'm-told dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Google responded to the opinion piece in the Washington Post by a Viacom Lawyer with a letter to the editor titled 'An End Run on Copyright Law.' Their strong wording sends a very concrete message: 'Viacom is attempting to rewrite established copyright law through a baseless lawsuit. In February, after negotiations broke down, Viacom requested that YouTube take down more than 100,000 videos. We did so immediately, working through a weekend. Viacom later withdrew some of those requests, apparently realizing that those videos were not infringing, after all. Though Viacom seems unable to determine what constitutes infringing content, its lawyers believe that we should have the responsibility and ability to do it for them. Fortunately, the law is clear, and on our side.'"
Intel

Submission + - Intel's Penryn & Nehalem Cores, Details Emerg

Submitted by
TrackinYeti
TrackinYeti writes: "Roughly two years ago, Intel talked about their proposed "tick-tock" product strategy which entailed the shift to a new process technology followed by an enhanced or entirely new microarchitecture approximately every year. HotHardware has new details regarding Intel's 2007 "tick", the Penryn core, and next year's "tock", the Nehalem core, which also all ushers in significant changes with Intel's platform architecture as a whole. According to this new information, Nehalem can execute two threads per core, and in some configurations will feature on-die memory controllers and integrated graphics cores. Penryn will be the first core to benefit from the 45nm High-K and metal gate transistor technology and will be the foundation of future processors that span each product segment (mobile, desktop, and server) and power envelope."

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