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Sony

Kojima Predicts the End of the Console 195

Posted by CmdrTaco from the i-predict-pizza dept.
nathanielinbrazil writes "Konami founder and developer Hideo Kojima predicts gaming console is a dying breed. Anticipates gaming on demand via Internet. 'It's a bold prediction,' Sony Computer Entertainment Japan President Hiroshi Kawano told reporters nervously. 'We hope he continues to develop for platforms, but we deeply respect his sense of taking on a challenge.' Kojima launches his follow-up game Heavy Metal Solid Gear: Peace Walker in late April designed for the PSP."
Communications

Ham Radio Still Growing In the iStuff Age 368

Posted by kdawson from the dah-dah-dit-dit-dit dept.
vhfer writes "From NPR comes this story about old-school communications in the age of Twitter: 'Only a few years ago, blogs listed ham radio alongside 35 mm film and VHS tape as technologies slated to disappear. They were wrong. Nearly 700,000 Americans have ham radio licenses — up 60 percent from 1981, a generation ago. And the number is growing.' The article goes on to say that while there's plenty of 60-plus year old hams, there's also a growing contingent of teens. I just met a 14-year-old, licensed in 2009. Getting rid of the Morse Code requirement sure helped in that regard. So does the fact that the test questions (and the answers) are freely available, legally, on the Internet. Study, take the test, hang the license certificate on the wall. Your geek cred gets an immediate boost. And who knows? Maybe the next time there's a Haiti-earthquake-sized disaster, you'll be one of the thousands of ham volunteers who provided the only communications in/out of Haiti for weeks following the quake, not to mention all of the tactical comms the country had for nearly a month."
Communications

Mississippi Makes Caller ID Spoofing Illegal 258

Posted by timothy from the so-be-sure-to-stop-in-late-june dept.
marklyon writes "HB 872, recently signed into law by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, makes Caller ID spoofing illegal. The law covers alterations to the caller's name, telephone number, or name and telephone number that is shown to a recipient of a call or otherwise presented to the network. The law applies to PSTN, wireless and VoIP calls. Penalties for each violation can be up to $1,000 and one year in jail. Blocking of caller identification information is still permitted."

Comment Re:Disagreeing with the majority here... (Score 4, Informative) 253

by eosp (#31341072) Attached to: Terry Childs's Slow Road To Justice
  • He gave the password to the only person allowed by his contract, the mayor.
  • He did not give the password over the speakerphone to a room full of other people, including quite possibly some people to whom he was not allowed to give the password. This was the incident that got him arrested.
  • A supervisor should have had the password all along. If he was innocently hit by a bus, then the city's network would really be hurting. IT people need to learn that refusal to document does not make job security.
  • All people involved are asshats.

Comment Re:Men like these... (Score 1) 253

by eosp (#31340804) Attached to: Terry Childs's Slow Road To Justice
Agree. Even if they had the right to the passwords (and any admin worth his salt would ensure that someone else had them, in case he gets hit by a bus:
  • They demanded them over speakerphone. There's no way that he could verify that the people on the other end of the line were all able to have that password.
  • He is not liable to tell them how to let them in. If I don't document something, they have no ability to come back and make me do it. Their only recourse is not giving me a good reference for my next attempt at a job.
The Courts

In UK, Oink Admin Cleared of Fraud 156

Posted by kdawson from the bpi-not-best-pleased dept.
krou writes "The BBC is reporting that Alan Ellis, who ran music file sharing site Oink from his flat in the UK, has been found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Between 2004 and 2007, the site 'facilitated the download of 21 million music files' by allowing its some 200,000 'members to find other people on the web who were prepared to share files.' Ellis was making £18,000 a month ($34,600) from donations from users, and claimed that he had no intention of defrauding copyright holders, and said 'All I do is really like Google, to really provide a connection between people. None of the music is on my website.'" Reader Andorin recommends Torrentfreak's coverage, which includes summaries of the closing arguments.
Unix

Raise a Glass — Time(2) Turns 40 Tonight 114

Posted by timothy from the for-auld-lang-syne(2) dept.
ddt writes "Raise your glasses of champagne in a toast at midnight. The time(2) system call turns 40 tonight, and is now officially 'over the hill.' It's been dutifully keeping track of time for clueful operating systems since January 1, 1970." And speaking of time, if you don't have a *nix system handy, or just want a second opinion, an anonymous reader points out this handy way to check just how far it is after local midnight in Unix time. Updated 10:03 GMT by timothy: The Unix-time-in-a-browser link has been replaced by a Rick Astley video; you have been warned.

Comment Re:Fair Copyright (Score 1) 427

by eosp (#30523234) Attached to: Alternative 2009 Copyright Expirations

In the first place, his idea gives you seven years up front for free. When was the last time you used seven-year-old software?

These are from Wikipedia.

  • Linux kernel: 1991
  • Vim: 1992, first port to Unix
  • Firefox: 2003. It's getting close. If you extend this to the Mozilla suite, then you're in the 1990s easily.
  • Bash: 1987

Comment Re:All admins (Score 1) 502

by eosp (#30453944) Attached to: The Trial of Terry Childs Begins
In a case at our local Army post, Lt. Ehren Watada refused to deploy to Iraq, claiming that the war was illegal. (Whether he was correct is not relevant at this point; I'm not talking about that.) In his court martial, he was banned from using any defense on that ground, only being allowed to defend himself on the "I never refused" ground (which was obviously not the case).

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