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Comment Childhood's End (Score 1) 219

by Knee Socks (#35352892) Attached to: How Cyborg Tech Could Link the Minds of the World
I couldn't help but think of the Arthur C Clark novel when reading this. It's not the first time the concept of a collective mind has been explored, nor will it be the last. But comparing it to Childhood's End brings up other pertinent questions as well - what effects would a technology like this have on our evolution as a species? What effects might it have on us even within our lifespan? We simply cannot know. We're still completely clueless when it comes to the human brain and, as Animats and others have already pointed out, by the time we have the technology to implant chips in our brain that allow us to receive a stream of other's thoughts or emotions, filter that stream out at any time, detect when emotions we're feeling are not our own and identify whose they are, we'll have done plenty of other things with the technology first.

Furthermore, it seems the general reaction from the /. crowd overwhelming focuses on the potential dangers and downfalls of such technology. Then again, when has anyone on /. ever argued for anything that would make them be (gasp) social?

Comment Another example of content farming (Score 1) 345

by Knee Socks (#35206962) Attached to: Google Goes After Content Farms
A rather hilarious example of the absurd level that content farming can reach on Google is the first result when "female serial killers" is entered as the query:

"Famous Female Serial killers; Top Serial killers; Best Females in their Field
List of notable or famous Female Serial Killers; incl. professionals who went on to have careers in other fields..."
Google

Submission + - Hulu, NBC, and other sites block Google TV (vortex.com)

Submitted by padarjohn
padarjohn writes: Imagine the protests that would ensue if Internet services arbitrarily blocked video only to Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers! Or if Hulu and the other networks decided they'd refuse to stream video to HP and Dell computers because those manufacturers hadn't made deals with the services to the latter's liking.

Submission + - Bees reveal nature-nuture secrets

Submitted by NoFear
NoFear writes: The nature-nurture debate is a "giant step" closer to being resolved after scientists studying bees documented how environmental inputs can modify our genetic hardware. The researchers uncovered extensive molecular differences in the brains of worker bees and queen bees which develop along very different paths when put on different diets The research was led by Professor Ryszard Maleszka of The Australian National University's College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, working with colleagues from the German Cancer Institute in Heidelberg, Germany and will be published next week in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology.
Microsoft

Submission + - IE9 May Not Be Enough To Save IE (conceivablytech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The October market share numbers are in and Net Applications' numbers show a surprising drop in IE8 market share — the first time since browser was introduced. Strangely, IE9 has not gained much and IE7 as well as IE6 are losing as well. The only two browsers gaining are Chrome and Safari — and both browsers have hit new record market shares. The frenzy around IE9 may have subsided already and Microsoft is under tremendous pressure to roll out IE9 soon. StatCounter's numbers indicate that Firefox is close to be surpassing IE in Europe.
Movies

Submission + - Has Christopher Nolan turned the 3D argument? (denofgeek.com)

Submitted by brumgrunt
brumgrunt writes: Not only has Christopher Nolan resisted pressure to make his third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, in 3D, but his explanation is very much centred on it being the right decision to suit the film. With Harry Potter (temporarily) abandoning 3D too, has Hollywood's latest bandwagon hit the skids already? http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/660851/is_christopher_nolan_making_the_dark_knight_rises_in_2d_a_turning_point.html
Advertising

Submission + - Fighting ad blockers with captcha ads (newscientist.com) 1

Submitted by krou
krou writes: Living in an ad-free internet thanks to ad blockers? That could be a thing of the past if software firm NuCatcha has their way: make captchas into ads. 'Instead of the traditional squiggly word that users have to decipher, the new system shows them a video advert with a short message scrolling across it. The user has to identify and retype part of the message to proceed. Companies including Electronic Arts, Wrigley and Disney have already signed up.'

Submission + - Ig Nobel prize winner wins real Nobel Prize (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Leemeng
Leemeng writes: Andrei Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, both at Manchester University, UK, took this year's Nobel Prize for Physics for their research on graphene. Geim was one of the recipients of 2000 Ig Nobel Prize in physics, which he earned for magnetically levitating frogs. This makes Geim the first person to have won both the Ig Nobel and the Nobel Prizes.
Microsoft

Submission + - 66% Of All Windows Users Still Use Windows XP (conceivablytech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Almost one year after the introduction of Windows 7 it appears that the hype surrounding the operating has faded. The overall market share of Windows has turned into a slight decline again. Windows 7 is gaining share, but cannot keep pace with the loss of Windows XP and Vista. Especially Windows XP users seem to be happy with what they have and appear to be rather resistant to Microsoft’s pitches that it is time to upgrade to Windows 7.
Government

'The Laws Are Written By Lobbyists,' Says Google's Schmidt 484

Posted by Soulskill from the bought-and-paid-for dept.
An anonymous reader sends this excerpt from The Atlantic: "'The average American doesn't realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists' to protect incumbent interests, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Atlantic editor James Bennet at the Washington Ideas Forum. 'It's shocking how the system actually works.' In a wide-ranging interview that spanned human nature, the future of machines, and how Google could have helped the stimulus, Schmidt said technology could 'completely change the way government works.' 'Washington is an incumbent protection machine,' Schmidt said. 'Technology is fundamentally disruptive.' Mobile phones and personal technology, for example, could be used to record the bills that members of Congress actually read and then determine what stimulus funds were successfully spent." We discussed a specific example of this from the cable industry back in August.
Piracy

US Copyright Group — Lawsuits, DDoS, and Bomb Threats 365

Posted by Soulskill from the fighting-fire-with-bombs dept.
A user writes "The US law firm of Dunlap, Grubb, & Weaver, otherwise known as the US Copyright Group, filed suit at the end of August against another 2,177 individuals for allegedly downloading and sharing the slasher film Cornered! (In total the USCG has now filed suit against over 16,200 individuals.) In retaliation, Operation Payback, the Anonymous-led project responsible for DDoSing websites of the RIAA and MPAA, targeted the US Copyright Group's website with a DDoS, temporarily bringing it down for a few hours. The group behind the attacks say they'll continue 'until they stop being angry.' Additionally, the local police department evacuated the office of Dunlap, Grubb, & Weaver after a bomb threat was emailed to the firm. The building was searched, but no bomb was found."

Comment It's all perfectly logical (Score 1) 634

by Knee Socks (#33308160) Attached to: Bicycles As a Gateway To Government Control
I believe the original (perhaps not the first, but the most media-friendly) quote from Maes warned that the bike-sharing program was "converting Denver into a United Nations community." Now, depending on who you talk to, this may not even be such a bad thing; but the most entertaining part is how huge he blows the conspiracy theory, claiming that "this is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms." This leaves Colorado conservatives with a difficult choice: Dan Maes, or ex-Republican Tom Tancredo, who is running for the American Constitution Party and believes that we should repeal the Voting Rights Act. Jim Crow mk II, anyone?
Programming

Submission + - HTML5 vs. Flash: The Case for Flash (infoworld.com) 4

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes: "InfoWorld's Peter Wayner offers 7 reasons why Web designers will remain loyal to Flash for rich Web content, despite 'seductive' new capabilities offered by HTML5. Sure, HTML5 aims to duplicate many of the features that were once the sole province of plug-ins (local disk storage, video display, better rendering, algorithmic drawing, and more) and has high-profile backers in Google and Apple, but as Wayner sees it, this fight is more about designers than it is about technocrats and programmers. And from its sub-pixel resolution, to its developer tools, to its 'write once, play everywhere' functionality, Flash has too much going for it to fall by the wayside. 'The real battle is in the hearts and eyes of the artists who are paid to create incredibly beautiful objects in the span of just a few hours. The designers will make the final determination. As long as Flash and its cousins Flex and Shockwave remain the simplest tools for producing drop-dead gorgeous Websites, they'll keep their place on the Internet.'"

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