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Crime

Mom Arrested After Son Makes Dry Ice "Bombs" 571

Posted by samzenpus from the mr.-terrorist-wizard dept.
formfeed writes "Police were called to a house in Omaha where a 14-year-old made some 'dry ice bombs' (dry ice in soda bottles). Since his mom knew about it, she is now facing felony charges for child endangment and possession of a destructive device. From the article: 'Assistant Douglas County Attorney Eric Wells said the boy admitted to making the bomb and that his mother knew he was doing so. The boy was set to appear Tuesday afternoon in juvenile court, accused of possessing a destructive device.'" She's lucky they didn't find the baking soda volcano in the basement.

Comment Re:I Hope They Get Anti-Piracy to Work This Time (Score 1) 403

by MongooseKY (#27888283) Attached to: Windows 7 Anti-Piracy Plans

You do realize that a normal copy of Windows XP Home is $199 for full, $99 for upgrade but you can get a 3pack OEM for $264 right?

The problem with that, at least as I understand it (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), is that the OEM license is only good for a single installation (installation = unique hardware combination). If you upgrade your entire computer, or upgrade "too many components", you have to pay the Microsoft tax again because the OEM copy you have already paid for once cannot be validated against your new hardware.

I've been using the same XP license since XP was released, and within that time period I've done about 4 complete system rebuilds. I'm not at all interested in buying the same OS 3 extra times simply because I like to keep a current computer.

I like the idea of a lower priced family pack - big business gets a break on their per-copy licensing, why shouldn't the home user? I normally loathe Apple's business practices, but in this case it sounds like they have the right idea. Microsoft should follow their lead and make their OS more attractive to the multi-computer homes out there, which I am sure there are more of these days.
Earth

The Environmental Impact of Google Searches 516

Posted by timothy from the compounding-wild-ass-guesses dept.
paleshadows writes "The Times Online reports that researchers claim that each query submitted to Google has a quantifiable impact. Specifically, two queries performed through a desktop computer generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a cup of tea. From the article: 'While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 [whereas] boiling a kettle generates about 15g [...] Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centers. However, with more than 200m Internet searches estimated daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the Internet is provoking concern. A recent report [argues that] the global IT industry generate[s] as much greenhouse gas as the world's airlines — about 2% of global CO2 emissions.'" Google makes an interesting focus for such claims, but similar extrapolations have been done before about, for instance, the energy costs of sending a short email.

Comment Re:Pussies (Score 1) 401

by MongooseKY (#25119353) Attached to: Defusing the Threat of Disgruntled IT Workers
That's a good approach if you don't work for an IT company that considers any outside work using any skill you possess to be competition, thus rendering you useless outside their four walls. Not only do they hang the constant threat of offshoring over your head, cut your pay, and refuse to give you raises, they also refuse to let you moonlight with your skills to make up the difference! Guess which big three letter company I work for?
Windows

Vista Named Year's Most Disappointing Product 842

Posted by kdawson from the foregone-conclusion dept.
Shadow7789 writes "No surprise here, but to complete its humiliation, PC World has declared that Windows Vista is the most disappointing product of 2007. Quoting: 'Five years in the making and this is the best Microsoft could do?... No wonder so many users are clinging to XP like shipwrecked sailors to a life raft, while others who made the upgrade are switching back. And when the fastest Vista notebook PC World has ever tested is an Apple MacBook Pro, there's something deeply wrong with the universe.'"
Windows

90% of IT Professionals Don't Want Vista 619

Posted by CmdrTaco from the oh-so-sad dept.
A survey by King Research has found that Ninety percent of IT professionals have concerns using Vista, with compatibility, stability and cost being their key reasons. Interestingly, forty four percent of companies surveyed are considering switching to non-Windows operating systems, and nine percent of those have already started moving to their selected alternative. "The concerns about Vista specified by participants were overwhelmingly related to stability. Stability in general was frequently cited, as well as compatibility with the business software that would need to run on Vista," said Diane Hagglund of King Research.
Windows

Vista Sales Rate Fell Last Quarter 449

Posted by kdawson from the peaked-too-early dept.
Microsoft is not directly mentioning Vista demand while they brag about how much money they made last quarter, because sales fell. "[Microsoft] shipped approximately 28 million copies of Vista in the latest quarter ended September, or 9.3 million copies per month. Though the Windows developer pointed to 27 percent growth in business licenses and noted that many home users were buying the more lucrative Vista Home Premium or Ultimate editions, the rate represents a decline from the 10 million per month reported early in summer."
Microsoft

Driver Update Can Cause Vista Deactivation 875

Posted by CmdrTaco from the thank-god-we're-all-safe-from-pirates dept.
KrispySausage writes "After weeks of grueling troubleshooting, I've finally had it confirmed by Microsoft Australia and USA — something as small as swapping the video card or updating a device driver can trigger a total Vista deactivation. Put simply, your copy of Windows will stop working with very little notice (three days) and your PC will go into "reduced functionality" mode, where you can't do anything but use the web browser for half an hour."
Bug

Vista Runs Out of Memory While Copying Files 661

Posted by kdawson from the how-hard-can-it-be dept.
ta bu shi da yu writes "It appears that, incredibly, Vista can run out of memory while copying files. ZDNet is reporting that not only does it run out of memory after copying 16,400+ files, but that 'often there is little indication that file copy operations haven't completed correctly.' Apparently a fix was scheduled for SP1 but didn't make it; there is a hotfix that you must request."

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