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Comment Re:Dont be a pack rat. (Score 1) 177

Except that one time when someone important (or not so important to you) dies and walking through old email correspondence lets you relive moments that are gone and may have been forever forgotten without the help of archived emails. While I don't want anyone routing through my emails while I'm alive, I can imagine what a treasure trove of my history is trapped in email format and can be visited, explored and enjoyed by someone else, be it a distant grandchild doing research or a historian trying to understand the emergence of internet technology and its social impacts 75 years from now.

Comment direct buying isn't the problem... (Score 1) 366

How many iPhones, HTC EVOs and other early adopter phones are purchased without ever touching one? I bet it is the majority. The inability to touch and hold the phone wasn't the problem, the problem was that we live under a cell phone system is is based on phone subsidization and multi-year contracts. If a phone could be purchased at full price and a phone service could be paired with it that didn't carry a subsidization premium, they might have done much better. Bottom line is that Americans don't like paying a premium for a phone unless it is made by Apple.

Comment YES! (Score 1) 569

The Sony Reader starts at $299 and uses E Ink technology that offers all of the features you seem to suggest don't exist. So, YES, there is a eBook reader that:

- doesn't cost near $400
- doesn't need a backlight
- doesn't require continuous power to display
- can be read in the sunlight or under a lamp

Though, I'm sure you will find something else to complain about--either real or imagined.

For the record, this was moderated 'Redundant' and it was the first of it's type to be posted... I think all the others are the redundant ones.

Just my $0.02,
Programming

MIT Media Lab Making Programming Fun For Kids 318

An anonymous reader passed us a link to an article on the Boston Globe's website, talking up efforts by MIT to make programming a non-threatening part of grade-school education. MIT has developed a new programming language designed to encourage experimentation and play. Called Scratch, the project eschews manuals and high-level concepts in favour of approachability. "Efforts to make computer programming accessible to young people began in the late 1970s with the advent of the personal PC, when another programming language with roots at MIT — Logo — allowed young people to draw shapes by steering a turtle around a screen by typing out commands. But the path to mastering most programming languages has been strewn with obstacles, since students needed to figure out not only the underlying logic but also master a brand new syntax, observe strict rules about semicolons and bracket use, and figure out what was causing error messages even as they learned the program."

Feed Viruses Found To Spread Far And Wide As We Breathe (sciencedaily.com)

Keeping at arm's length won't protect you from catching an infectious disease, according to new research which reveals airborne viruses can spread far and wide. The study seems to dispel the myth that viruses emitted from humans only travel a meter in the air.

Feed Torvalds and Moglen agree: MS patent claims are 'FUD' (slashdot.org)

After reading portions of the Fortune Magazine story which contains the latest sabre rattling by Microsoft in its battle against free software, we asked Linus Torvalds, father of the Linux kernel, if he had any comment on Microsoft's claims that the...
Software

Submission + - The Acid Test: QA as a Bridge to a Game Career

An anonymous reader writes: Over at educational site Game Career Guide, there's a new article asking whether game testing is a good way to get into the game industry, and game tester Zachary Slater comments of the conundrum: "QA could be a worthwhile career path for console and computer games if only it were treated and respected as such... It isn't and probably won't be. Game developers and publishers seem to regard QA as an unfortunate expense required in the development process. It is a problem for anyone who wants to actually focus on it that they won't be respected for doing so. When you're asked, 'Where you want to be in five years?' the answer is rarely QA. People who do answer this question with QA are regarded as underachievers."
Microsoft

Microsoft Details FOSS Patent Breaches 576

CptRevelation writes "Microsoft has released more detailed information on the patents supposedly in breach by the open-source community. Despite their accusations of infringement, they state they would rather do licensing deals instead of any legal action. 'Open-source programs step on 235 Microsoft patents, the company said. Free Linux software violates 42 patents. Graphical user interfaces, the way menus and windows look on the screen, breach 65. E-mail programs step on 15, and other programs touch 68 other patents, the company said. The patent figures were first reported by Fortune magazine. Microsoft also said Open Office, an open-source program supported in part by Sun Microsystems Inc., infringes on 45 patents. Sun declined to comment on the allegation.'"
Google

Google Files Patent to Monitor Gaming For Ads 101

Tookis writes "In a recent patent filing, Google has proposed a real time profiling of players of online games such as World of Warcraft. Soon players of such games may see in game ads directly designed to appeal to their persona. Last month Google filed a patent in both Europe and the US which outlined plans to psychologically profile people simply by their style of play in popular online games. 'From the patent; "User dialogue (e.g., from role playing games, simulation games, etc) may be used to characterize the user (e.g., literate, profane, blunt or polite, quiet etc). Also, user play may be used to characterize the user (e.g., cautious, risk-taker, aggressive, non-confrontational, stealthy, honest, cooperative, uncooperative, etc)." Taking this a step further, Google also believe if a player likes to explore their new virtual world, that they would be interested in the real world, as such would target the player with travel ads.'"

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