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Comment Kind of a long shot (Score 2) 214

by weav (#38515490) Attached to: Justifications For Creating an IT Department?

Depends on the size of the place.

Of course, engineering gets stuck with it at first because < cynical broadcast engineer mode > we are the only ones who can actually deal with physical reality </>... A separate IT department doesn't really start to make a lot of sense until you have radio AND TV who already have separate engineering groups with different takes on IT. CBS in SF has a separate IT group (run by a former radio CE) but that's with like 3 TVs and 4 FMs in the same building.

If your station is the hub for all 5, well, maybe but I think it might be a hard sell to the pointy-hairs / showbiz-money types. Maybe better off re-org'ing engineering with a separate IT subgroup and breaking out its expenses and tasks sepatately for the time being.

Eric
CE, KNGY San Francisco, back in t3h day
Medicine

Muslim Medical Students Boycott Darwin Lectures 1319

Posted by samzenpus from the designer-animals dept.
First time submitter Readycharged writes "The Daily Mail reports on a piece from The Sunday Times revealing that University College London have seen an increasing number of Muslim students boycotting lectures on Evolution due to clashes with the Koran. Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics, says, 'I've had one or two slightly frisky discussions with kids who belonged to fundamentalist Christian churches, now it's Islamic overwhelmingly.' He adds, 'What they object to — and I don't really understand it, I am not religious — they object to the idea that there is a random process out there which is not directed by God.' The article also reveals that Evolutionary Biologist and former Oxford Professor Richard Dawkins also experienced Muslims walking out of such lectures."
Network

Why We Don't Need Gigabit Networks (Yet) 359

Posted by timothy from the more-suspense-this-way dept.
AmyVernon writes "Most computers today can't support gigabit connections and current Wi-Fi networks can't offer those speeds either. The first trial of Sonic.Net's gigabit network was a speed test on a generic laptop that showed off 420 Mbps down; the laptop couldn't handle a full gig. Plus, few applications need those speeds. It's hard to justify such a huge investment in a network that will have few subscribers and few applications that need it. Of course, that can change, and then these networks will be vital. This story has a good analysis of where things stand and what has to change."
Music

Spotify Sued For Patent Infringement 151

Posted by timothy from the just-a-hazing-ritual-nowadays dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Celebrated online music player Spotify just entered the US market a few weeks ago, and already it's being sued for patent infringement. Welcome to America! The patent in question is a very very broad patent on distribution of music in a digital form, which basically describes how anyone would ever distribute digital music. The company suing, PacketVideo, has no competing product. It just wants money from the company that actually innovated."
Businesses

When Patents Attack — the NPR Version 87

Posted by timothy from the official-office-suite-of-rent-seeking dept.
fermion writes "This American Life is running a story this week on Intellectual Ventures, a firm some consider the leader of the patent trolls. The story delves into the origins of the term patent troll and the rise of the patent troll industry. Much time is spent presenting Intellectual Ventures both as a patent troll firm and a legitimate business that allows helpless inventors to monetize patents. It is stipulated that Intellectual Ventures does not in fact sue anyone. It is also alleged that Intellectual Ventures creates many shell companies, presumably to hide such activity. Intellectual Ventures is compared to a Mafia protection racket that may never actually burn down a business that does not pay the dues, but does encourage such burning to occur."
Hardware Hacking

Japanese Military Invents Tumbling, Flying Sphere 156

Posted by Soulskill from the didn't-darth-vader-have-one-of-these dept.
thebchuckster writes "A Japanese developer has released a cool, new sphere that is billed as being able to go where humans can't. The sphere is 17-inches, features eight movable rudders, and can hover in the air for at least eight minutes. While reaching speeds of up to 37 miles per hour, the sphere deftly moves through the air without much effort. It doesn't take much to get it up in the air and moving, and it will be adept at going into tight areas."
Television

The Next Phase of Intelligent TVs Will Observe You 294

Posted by samzenpus from the unseen-mechanized-eye dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Japan based NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories (STRL) is testing an interface which observes TV viewers, determines their interest and provides information related to the TV program in accordance with the way they are watching it. UTAN (user technology assisted navigation) TV viewing interface, as it is called, has a camera mounted on the TV which photographs the viewer and estimates the viewer's degrees of interest, concentration, etc. The information is processed by a tablet PC and recommended information is shown to the viewer. It is possible to show individual interests as well, in case there are multiple viewers."
Microsoft

MS Wants Laws To Block Products Made By Software Pirates 617

Posted by Soulskill from the grasping-at-imported-straws dept.
kaptink writes with this quote from Groklaw: "Microsoft seems to be trying to get its own personal unfair competition laws passed state by state, so it can sue US companies who get parts from overseas companies who used pirated Microsoft software anywhere in their business. The laws allow Microsoft to block the US company from selling the finished product in the state and compel them to pay damages for what the overseas supplier did. So if a company overseas uses a pirated version of Excel, let's say, keeping track of how many parts it has shipped or whatever, and then sends some parts to General Motors or any large company to incorporate into the finished product, Microsoft can sue not the overseas supplier but General Motors, for unfair competition. So can the state's Attorney General. I kid you not. For piracy that was done by someone else, overseas. The product could be T shirts. It doesn't matter what it is, so long as it's manufactured with contributions from an overseas supplier, like in China, who didn't pay Microsoft for software that it uses somewhere in the business. It's the US company that has to pay damages, not the overseas supplier."
NASA

Submission + - Researchers Develop Super Batteries From Aerogel (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by
greenerd
greenerd writes: "Researchers from the University of Central Florida may have found the most efficient (and most bizarre) battery material yet – ‘frozen smoke’, also known as Aerogel. One of the world’s lightest solids, aerogel contains multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) which each one several thousands thinner than human hair. The researchers, Associate Professor Lei Zhai and Postdoctoral Associate Jianhua Zou, believe that this material could soon become the best energy storage material for capacitors and batteries."

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