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Comment Re:Wow (Score 1) 594

by Desipis (#28916109) Attached to: "Cash For Clunkers" Program Runs Out of Gas

Top bracket taxpayers are overwhelmingly small business owners paying their business taxes on their personal tax returns. Cutting taxes means more money to reinvest in small businesses that produce most new jobs in America and providing less discouragement for workaholic small business owners to keep working when they really don't have to.

Giving money (tax cuts or whatever) to top bracket tax payers, means that some worker somewhere has to provide goods/services/labour to the rich person to get that money flowing back into the economy. Giving money (tax cuts or whatever) to the poor/disadvantaged, means that some worker somewhere has to provide goods/services/labour to the poor people to get that money flowing back into the economy. The difference isn't the stimulatory affect but rather who benefits from the economic redirection.

Of course I don't see America as a country that is lacking in cars, so I don't see the point of focusing funding in that direction.

Comment Re:Impact? (Score 1) 316

by Desipis (#27962951) Attached to: On the Feasibility of Single-Server MMOs
I think that it would be better to break up the servers in some sort of meaningful way like say, play time limits. Have a server with unlimited time, one with a limit of 20 hours a week, 5 hours, etc. That way you can cater to a wide variety of players and they can all have a meaningful impact within the way they wish to play. If you rely on procedurally generated content then there shouldn't be a major issue with supporting different outcomes on different servers.
IT

Does Your Vendor Issue Gag Orders? 210

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the next-up-charging-protection-fees dept.
Presto Vivace writes to tell us that CIO has an interesting article about customer "gag orders" that some ERP vendors are trying to impose contractually. "The effect: customers will be prevented from working with peers and others in the software company's "ecosystem" to help with technical issues or compare pricing options. 'In addition,' Wang adds, 'the customer now lacks the proper checks and balances in pressuring a vendor to deliver on promised capabilities or address severe security issues, and cannot go to the media as a last resort, if needed.'" What other questionable practices (and potential solutions) have others had to work with?
The Internet

Internet Not Really Dangerous For Kids After All 445

Posted by kdawson from the nevermind dept.
Thomas M Hughes writes "We're all familiar with the claim that it's horribly dangerous to allow our children on to the Internet. It's long been believed that the moment a child logs on to the Internet, he will experience a flood of inappropriate sexual advances. Turns out this isn't an accurate representation of reality at all. A high-profile task force representing 49 state attorneys general was organized to find a solution to the problem of online sexual solicitation. But instead the panel has issued a report (due to be released tomorrow) claiming that 'Social networks are very much like real-world communities that are comprised mostly of good people who are there for the right reasons.' The report concluded that 'the problem of child-on-child bullying, both online and offline, poses a far more serious challenge than the sexual solicitation of minors by adults.' Turns out the danger to our children was all just media hype and parental anxiety." Those who have aggressively pushed the issue of the dangerous Internet, such as Connecticut's attorney general Richard Blumenthal, are less than happy with the report.
Windows

In-Depth With the Windows 7 Public Beta 785

Posted by kdawson from the ctrl-alt-del-makes-him-blink dept.
Dozer writes "With the Windows 7 public beta out, Ars Technica has an in-depth look at the release. There's praise for Windows 7's UI changes and polish as well much-needed changes to UAC, but also a warning that those who have problems with Vista won't like Windows 7 much better. 'If you couldn't stand Vista's UI (whether it's because you didn't like Explorer, Aero, Control Panel, UAC, or anything else), Windows 7 is unlikely to do much to help, as it builds on the same UI. If Vista's hardware demands were too steep, Windows 7 will likely cause you the same grief, as its hardware demands match. And if Vista didn't work with a program or device you need to use, Windows 7 will offer no salvation, as its compatibility is virtually identical.'"
GNU is Not Unix

Open Source Victories of 2008 378

Posted by kdawson from the brief-look-back dept.
Meshach writes "Ars Technica has an interesting run-down on the major open source victories of 2008. Some, like Firefox 3, we can probably mostly agree on. Others — KDE 4 comes to mind — will be more controversial. And Mono 2? What else should be on the list?"
Medicine

A Robotic Cyberknife To Fight Cancer 80

Posted by samzenpus from the how-is-it-at-starting-a-fire dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "The Cyberknife is not a real knife. This is a robot radiotherapy machine which works with great accuracy during treatment, thanks to its robotic arm which moves around a patient when he breathes. According to BBC News, the first Cyberknife will be operational in February 2009 in London, UK. But other machines have been installed in more than 15 countries, and have permitted doctors to treat 50,000 patients in the first semester of 2008. And the Cyberknife is more efficient than conventional radiotherapy devices. The current systems require twenty or more short sessions with low-dose radiation. On the contrary, and because it's extremely precise, a Cyberknife can deliver powerful radiation in just three sessions."
Intel

Not All Cores Are Created Equal 183

Posted by kdawson from the working-out-the-kinks dept.
joabj writes "Virginia Tech researchers have found that the performance of programs running on multicore processors can vary from server to server, and even from core to core. Factors such as which core handles interrupts, or which cache holds the needed data can change from run to run. Such resources tend to be allocated arbitrarily now. As a result, program execution times can vary up to 10 percent. The good news is that the VT researchers are working on a library that will recognize inefficient behavior and rearrange things in a more timely fashion." Here is the paper, Asymmetric Interactions in Symmetric Multicore Systems: Analysis, Enhancements and Evaluation (PDF).
PC Games (Games)

An In-Depth Look At Game Piracy 504

Posted by Soulskill from the share-and-share-alike dept.
TweakGuides is running a detailed examination of PC game piracy. The author begins with a look at the legal, moral, and monetary issues behind copyright infringement, and goes on to measure the scale of game piracy and how it affects developers and publishers. He also discusses some of the intended solutions to piracy. He provides examples of copy protection and DRM schemes that have perhaps done more harm than good, as well as less intrusive measures which are enjoying more success. The author criticizes the "culture of piracy" that has developed, saying. "Fast forward to the 21st century, and piracy has apparently somehow become a political struggle, a fight against greedy corporations and evil copy protection, and in some cases, I've even seen some people refer to the rise of piracy as a 'revolution.' What an absolute farce. ... Piracy is the result of human nature: when faced with the option of getting something for free or paying for it, and in the absence of any significant risks, you don't need complex economic studies to show you that most people will opt for the free route."

Comment Argh (Score 2) 66

by Desipis (#25716073) Attached to: Activision On Iterating, Innovating <em>Call Of Duty</em> Series
You've always got an advantage on the enemy; you've been through the level before, you know where they're going to be This is what puts me off most FPS games these days. They make it so incredibly hard such that the only way to get through is to play it over and over till you've memorized the level. It takes away most of the fun of the game and justs makes it a frustrating experience. If you want to negate the deja vu knowledge of the player, make the game change each time it's played again.

New Gadget Blocks 'Spam' Phone Calls 274

Posted by CmdrTaco from the this-doesn't-sound-right dept.
Smivs writes "The BBC report on a new gizmo that can block/filter spam phone calls. The system basically intercepts all calls. If it recognizes them as a friend or a member of the user's family — numbers on the so-called star list created by the user — it lets them through as normal. If the caller's number is on a zap list — numbers of telemarketers or other nuisance callers — the device answers it, and all future calls from that number, with an automated message which means the phone does not ring at all. If the system doesn't recognize the caller's number, or the caller withholds their number, it asks them who they are, puts them on hold and then rings the user's phone. The user has the option of taking the call, having the system take a message, or they can reject the call and add the number to the 'zap' list. Users can add callers to their 'star' list by pressing the star button on their phone at any point during a call." So wait, they can't spam me twice? If I press a button? And if they actually show their phone number on my caller ID? What about the auto insurance scammers that hit me 10x/week?

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