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Comment Where to start?? (Score 1) 215

Hi Michael, Thanks for listening. For some time now, I have had an idea floating around in my head for the proverbial "Great Sci-fi Story" and while I'd be the first to say that I don't have a snowball's chance on Mercury to ever have it published, it has occurred to me that it MAY make a reasonably decent treatment for either a comic or a TV series. MAY is the operative word here.. Now, assuming that I actually have something to offer the hard bleak world that is waiting for me, where do I start?? There are horror stories about folks submitting concepts that get stolen etc, but I'm sure that there are some valid and honorable ways to have your ideas at least glanced at by someone that knows what they are doing. I'm quite willing to sink or swim and have no delusions of grandeur, so rejection would not bother me, it would motivate me to improve my craft. But with no idea who to approach or how, it is inevitable that I will always remain a frustrated wordsmith. To be clear, I'm not looking for you to help me directly, just asking if you can cover the basics of getting started. You obviously started somewhere, can you tell us how it works? Cheers.
Google

Submission + - Google threatens French media ban (bbc.co.uk)

another random user writes: Google has threatened to exclude French media sites from search results if France goes ahead with plans to make search engines to pay for content.

In a letter sent to several ministerial offices, Google said such a law "would threaten its very existence".

French newspaper publishers have been pushing for the law, saying it is unfair that Google receives advertising revenue from searches for news. French Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti also favours the idea. She told a parliamentary commission it was "a tool that it seems important to me to develop".

Privacy

Submission + - Twitter hands over messages at heart of Occupy case (bbc.com)

another random user writes: Legal pressure has forced Twitter to handed over messages sent by an Occupy Wall Street protester.

Twitter spent months resisting the call to release the messages, saying to do so would undermine privacy laws.

The Manhattan district attorney's office wanted the tweets to help its case against protester Malcolm Harris.

It believes the messages undermine Mr Harris' claim that New York police led protesters on to the Brooklyn Bridge to make it easier to arrest them. It claims the messages will show Mr Harris was aware of police orders that he then disregarded.

Games

Submission + - First part of Black Mesa released (blackmesasource.com)

ProbablyJoe writes: The long awaited Source engine remake of the Valve's original Half Life has finally been released. The initial release only includes the story up until Xen, but the developers say they'll be adding the rest of the story, along with an online multiplayer Deathmatch mode, soon. The game is available to download for free, and only requires players to install the Source SDK (included with all Source games, or a free download.

The highly anticipated release has also caused a huge amount of traffic for any servers hosting the files, with GameFront, GameUpdates, and Black Mesa's own CDN brought down within minutes of the release. The project has also been approved by Steam's Greenlight program, and will hopefully be available through Steam soon, though no timeframe has been given.

Comment it took MONTHS (Score 0) 81

That is my biggest problem with this issue. Not that the dolts that were responsible screwed up, but that it took MONTHS of internal "investigations" before some bright spark decided that it was time to share the facts with the people most affected. Typical Ontario Liberal nanny state policies.. Bad Dalton. Down boy, stop humping granny's leg!

Comment Re:We get what we deserve (Score 1) 242

"There will of course always be some people that want control over their hardware. Some people." My point exactly. To the rest of your reply: So You advocate completely abdicating control over your device because "most people" are too lazy or stoopid to maintain a simple PC? This POV is what got us into this mess in the first place. Like I said, we get what we deserve.

Comment A Zen Master (Score 1) 321

II actually love it, there's something Zen-like about the way the metal flows into the joints in a well heated part, and the wick effect on stranded wires is mesmerizing.
I could happily do it all day. Now I ride a desk :(
I built and repaired Coin Operated Video Games and Pinball Machines for 10 years, so Brother, if you ever need someone to solder something, I'm your guy. Try building wiring harnesses with 2-300 wires on edge connectors, you get good at it. Not to mention good at following confusing looking schematics.

Comment We get what we deserve (Score 1) 242

It's starting to become inevitable. Apple is the main culprit. We migrated away from Desktop's and Laptop PC's to "smart" phones and tablets that are all user limited for the sake of being cool. Now the very real threat that the PC revolution of the 70's and 80's will be overthrown by corporate inertia. They and Apple in particular, hate the idea that you may have control over your own hardware and/or software and are doing everything they can to curtail your choices. Don't blame MS, blame yourselves.

Comment Tom Swift (Score 1) 726

Try the Tom Swift series, have no idea if they are still available, but it was like the Hardy Boys in space. Another good book, highly overlooked for years, but was taught in English Class back in the day, The Chrysalids by John Wyndham, same guy that wrote Day of the Triffids and Midwich Cuckoos. Great book, light on the sci- heavy on the -fi, but totally original and refreshing. No idea why that one never made it to the big screen.
Digital

Submission + - Time Warner Cable patents method for disabling fast-forward function on DVRs (fiercecable.com) 1

antdude writes: "FierceCable reports "Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) has won a U.S. patent for a method for disabling fast-forward and other trick mode functions on digital video recorders.

The patent, which lists Time Warner Cable principal architect Charles Hasek as the inventor, details how the nation's second largest cable MSO may be able prevent viewers from skipping TV commercials contained in programs stored on physical DVRs it deploys in subscriber homes, network-based DVRs and even recording devices subscribers purchase at retail outlets...""

Hardware

Submission + - New film renders screen reflection almost non-existent (geek.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Sony has used the SID 2012 conference to demonstrate a brand new combination of conductive film and low-reflection film that promises to render screen reflection almost non-existent in devices like smartphones and tablets.

Sony achieved such low reflections by combining its new conductive film with a moth-eye low reflection film. The key to the low reflectance is the formation of an uneven surface, which consists of both concave and convex structures (tiny bumps) that cover the entire film. The uneven surface means that light won’t just bounce back off the screen creating a reflection, and therefore making the screen usable in a wider range of lighting conditions.

Comment My "Solution" (Score 1) 88

I use Opera and the Ghostery extension along with WOT. Then I run CCleaner a few times a day. I ALWAYS log out of any site once I'm done with what I logged in to do, and that goes double for Google. Then run CCleaner. I take a small hit with some occasional unpredictable behavior on some sites with Ghostery running, but screw 'em. If they want my junk, I can find (95% of the time) what i want elsewhere. Strategy seems to work pretty well, low spam incidence in gmail and my "real" email addresses are rarely spammed as well. Recently checked Google's data on me through the privacy page and all clear.

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