Comment iPhone 3GS sold out (Score 1) 250
It's not just Japan where the iPhone is selling like hotcakes, the Globe and Mail reports that there is a worldwide shortage for the iPhone 3GS.
Submission + - Bizarre Bugs: 9 of the Strangest Software Glitches (itworld.com)
Ant writes: "In this four pages IT World article (one print page), Harry McCracken rounded up nine truly peculiar bugs that bedeviled customers of some of the largest providers of software and services on the planet.
Seen on Linux Today."
Family's Christmas Photos Hawk Groceries In Prague 263
Hugh Pickens writes "The Telegraph reports that Jeff and Danielle Smith sent a photo of themselves with their two young children to family and friends as a Christmas card, and posted the image on her blog and a few social networking websites. Then, last month, a friend of the family was vacationing in the Czech Republic when he spotted a full size poster of the Missouri family's smiling faces in the window of a local supermarket in Prague, advertising a grocery delivery service. The friend snapped a few pictures and sent them to the Smiths, who were flabbergasted. Mario Bertuccio, who owns the Grazie store in Prague, admitted that he had found the photo online but thought it was computer-generated and promised to remove it, and 'We'll be happy to write an e-mail with our apology,' he says. Meanwhile Mrs. Smith has received 180,000 visitors and over 500 comments on her blog since she posted the story. She says she is glad the photo wasn't used in an unseemly manner. 'Interesting. Bizarre. Flattering, I suppose,' writes Mrs. Smith. 'But quite creepy.'"
Submission + - all about Snow Leopard for business and IT (infoworld.com)
GMGruman writes: "Apple's forthcoming OS is pitched mainly as an under-the-hood performance upgrade couple with interface tweaks — and that's true. But it also makes a big move into the corporate world with its integration of Microsoft Exchange technology, giving Mac OS X Snow Leopard users native access to Exchange e-mail, calendars, contacts, and more even without running Microsoft's Entourage. Although Apple publicly shies away from the business market, Snow Leopard takes a significant step towards business customers with the support for Exchange and several other capabilities, as InfoWorld's Galen Gruman explains. And if your company already supports Macs, his story outlines what other changes you and your users should know about."
Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail, Others Blocked In China 151
An anonymous reader writes "Two days ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square 'incident,' several high profile Internet sites have been blocked in mainland China. These include Twitter.com, Flickr.com, Live.com, and Bing.com. While Internet blocks are common enough in mainland China, blocking such high-profile sites is unusual. In addition, blog reports suggest even state-owned television broadcasts are suffering multiple instances of muting lasting several seconds (again, not unusual for some foreign stations broadcast over cable, but unusual for local state-owned media) suggesting state security, online or through other technology, has tightened significantly, perhaps in anticipation or discovery of protest plans."
Chrome EULA Reserves the Right To Filter Your Web 171
An anonymous reader writes "Recently, I decided to try out Google Chrome. With my usual mistrust of Google, I decided to carefully read the EULA before installing the software. I paused when I stumbled upon this section: '7.3 Google reserves the right (but shall have no obligation) to pre-screen, review, flag, filter, modify, refuse or remove any or all Content from any Service. For some of the Services, Google may provide tools to filter out explicit sexual content. These tools include the SafeSearch preference settings (see google.com/help/customize.html#safe). In addition, there are commercially available services and software to limit access to material that you may find objectionable.'
Does this mean that Google reserves the right to filter my web browsing experience in Chrome (without my consent to boot)? Is this a carry-over from the EULAs of Google's other services (gmail, blogger etc), or is this something more significant? One would think that after the previous EULA affair with Chrome, Google would try to sound a little less draconian." Update: 04/05 21:14 GMT by T : Google's Gabriel Stricker alerted me to an informative followup: "We saw your Slashdot post and published the following clarification on the Google Chrome blog."
Comment XC60 has this already (almost!) (Score 1) 743
The Volvo XC60 (flash-needed) has optional:
- blindside radar
- lane departure warning
- adaptive cruise control that senses the speed and distance of the car ahead
- automatic braking in stop-and-go traffic ("City sense")
- collision warning with automatic braking (at highway speeds)
Whereas City Sense automatically brakes to avoid a collision, collision warning with automatic braking does not avoid collision but reduces the severity of the collision.
Submission + - CAVEman, an anatomically-correct VR human revealed
MitsuMirage writes: Researchers at the University of Calgary have unveiled the CAVEman, a virtual anatomically-correct human male, as reported in the Globe and Mail. Using Java 3-D technology in a "holodeck", the simulation has 3000 body parts that can be explored to show the effects of medication on organs over time. It can also be used for surgery simulations. Slashdotters rejoice, a female version is in the works.
Bookmark Guy Kawasaki (guykawasaki.com)
Comment Re:Do not rely completely on fMRI (Score 5, Informative) 324
Basically, you're looking for signs of psychological stress.
No, this is wrong. fMRI looks at blood oxygen levels (BOLD) in the brain - which indicate what part of the brain is being used. Lying requires more brain horsepower than telling the truth and the parts of the brain used for lying are known. They are different than just recall. This is indeed looking into the brain working and not a side effect like sweating. The recall parts of the brain are known too and thus can be used to determine if you've know a person. Flash a photograph of the person and if the recognition part fires, then it shows you've seen that person. You don't even have to punch a button...
Having said that, near IR is a much easier technique to look into the brain and only requires strapping some IR emitters/detectors on the subjects forehead. A link is here. Cost is way less than the millions for an fMRI that requires a supercon magnet and Faraday cage. And the subject need not be as cooperative.
No, this is wrong. fMRI looks at blood oxygen levels (BOLD) in the brain - which indicate what part of the brain is being used. Lying requires more brain horsepower than telling the truth and the parts of the brain used for lying are known. They are different than just recall. This is indeed looking into the brain working and not a side effect like sweating. The recall parts of the brain are known too and thus can be used to determine if you've know a person. Flash a photograph of the person and if the recognition part fires, then it shows you've seen that person. You don't even have to punch a button...
Having said that, near IR is a much easier technique to look into the brain and only requires strapping some IR emitters/detectors on the subjects forehead. A link is here. Cost is way less than the millions for an fMRI that requires a supercon magnet and Faraday cage. And the subject need not be as cooperative.
