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Comment There is something terribly wrong... (Score 2) 224

by PNP_Transistor (#45783251) Attached to: Snowden Gives Alternative Christmas Message On Channel 4
... with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.
Patents

Microsoft Puts C# and the CLI Under "Community Promise" 465

Posted by timothy from the if-it's-a-trap-please-clarify dept.
FishWithAHammer writes "Peter Galli of Microsoft posted a blog entry on Port25 today, regarding the explicit placement of C# and the Common Language Infrastructure (the ECMA standard that underpins .NET) under their Community Promise: 'It is important to note that, under the Community Promise, anyone can freely implement these specifications with their technology, code, and solutions. You do not need to sign a license agreement, or otherwise communicate to Microsoft how you will implement the specifications. ... Under the Community Promise, Microsoft provides assurance that it will not assert its Necessary Claims against anyone who makes, uses, sells, offers for sale, imports, or distributes any Covered Implementation under any type of development or distribution model, including open-source licensing models such as the LGPL or GPL.'" Adds reader anshulajain: "Understandably, Miguel De Icaza is jumping with joy."
Windows

Windows 7 Anti-Piracy Plans 403

Posted by CmdrTaco from the not-the-background-image-no dept.
Slatterz writes "Microsoft has announced that the forthcoming Windows 7 operating system will contain a number of piracy 'tweaks' it says are designed to protect the interests of customers. Under the new regime users will be expected to validate their software in a much more precise way than before. Other Microsoft operating systems and anti-piracy measures, including Windows Genuine Advantage, allowed users to delay 'activation,' but Windows 7 will make it harder to ignore repeated messages. According to Joe Williams, general manager for Worldwide Genuine Windows at Microsoft, counterfeit software 'delivers a poor experience and impacts customer satisfaction with our products, particularly if users do not know that their software is non-genuine.' Williams gave the example of one piracy exploit that caused more than a million reported system crashes on machines running non-genuine Windows Vista before Microsoft was able to resolve it."

Comment Re:Probably forbidden by international treaties (Score 1) 432

by PNP_Transistor (#27546603) Attached to: Better Living Through Nukes?

This is not about nuclear tests! This is about practical real-world detonations, not tests!

Some countries may use a "practical real-world detonation" as a cover for a nuclear test. A country like North Korea could set off some bombs to test/demonstrate their nuclear capability and claim it was for mining or something. Kind of like how their recent missile test was supposedly for the entirely peaceful purpose of a satellite launch.
Security

US Electricity Grid Reportedly Penetrated By Spies 328

Posted by kdawson from the im-in-ur-wirez-eatin-ur-lectrons dept.
phantomfive worries about a report in the Wall Street Journal ("Makes me want to move to the country and dig a well") that in recent years a number of cyber attacks against US infrastructure have been launched over the Internet: "Cyberspies have penetrated the US electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials. The spies came from China, Russia, and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the US electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war."
Transportation

Segway, GM Partner On Two-Wheeled Electric Car 394

Posted by kdawson from the keeping-it-in-balance dept.
Slartibartfast was one of many readers sending in news of GM's partnership with Segway to develop a two-seater urban electric vehicle. It's called the Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, or "PUMA." This is just a prototype, so don't get your credit card out yet. Its total cost of ownership could be about 1/4 that of a traditional car, GM says. The prototype runs for 35 miles, at a top speed of 35 mph, on lithium-ion batteries. It features the now-familiar Segway balancing technology, though fore-and-aft training wheels are visible on the prototype. Some commentators have likened it to a high-tech rickshaw, others to a golf cart. Engadget describes how the ride feels.

Comment Re:Outstanding. (Score 1) 492

by PNP_Transistor (#27464397) Attached to: North Korea Launches "Communication Satellite" Rocket

But can't someone do something about this, what about negotiating with the Chinese to make them toughen down on these people. There must be more options than "war" and "do nothing"

The parent isn't suggesting that we "do nothing". It suggests that we do SOMETHING, but to take an approach that doesn't involve "war". Or something extreme like a coup.

Comment Nexuiz can't compete with Quake Live and Tremulous (Score 4, Interesting) 309

by PNP_Transistor (#27464255) Attached to: Open Source Shooter <em>Nexuiz</em> 2.5 Released

I don't see how a game like this can compete with something like Quake Live. Quake Live (still in beta) is free and has comparable graphics and gameplay. Yet it already has a much larger community, more polish, and runs more smoothly.

I understand that it is difficult for an open source game to have the same playerbase and polish as a professionally developed, ad-supported game. But at the very least Nexuiz should run more smoothly and should differentiate itself from other games that have already been released.

I'd say that a better open-source game might be Tremulous. Runs much more smoothly on my computer, and I often want to play it because its gameplay is different from other games I already have. Perhaps that's why there have always been more Tremulous players than Nexuiz players in my area.

Comment Soon we're going to have an April Fools' Week (Score 1) 346

by PNP_Transistor (#27428573) Attached to: Microsoft Asks Fed For Bailout
I was skeptical of anything I saw, read, or heard on April 1st. But damn... THIS caught me off guard! Perhaps Slashdot is going to be the start of a trend. Since everyone is used to getting tricked on April 1st, people are going to start pulling "late" April Fools' jokes on April 2nd just to catch people off-guard. Soon, April Fools' Day will be "April Fools' Two Days". And perhaps 200 years from now, we'll have an "April Fools' Week".
Microsoft

Microsoft Asks Fed For Bailout 346

Posted by samzenpus from the too-big-to-fail dept.
snydeq writes "Microsoft requested on Tuesday some $20 billion in bailout funds from the federal government, claiming that as the company controls an overwhelming share of the OS market, it is too big to fail. Low adoption rates for Vista, the ensuing ad campaign trying to convince people that they really do like Vista, and the increased need for development resources to rush Windows 7 to market to make people forget about Vista have necessitated the bailout, the company said. 'We want to make it absolutely clear that this is not a crisis of mismanagement,' said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a prepared statement. 'This is simply a crisis of dollars — a crisis of not having enough dollars coming our way.'"

Comment Re:carbon monoxide is toxic (Score 1) 148

by PNP_Transistor (#26527047) Attached to: A Waste Gasification Plant In a Truck

Moreover, the methane will produce carbon dioxide on burning, and the oxides of nitrogen are either greenhouse gases or toxic. TFA might be glossing over a couple of things. Processing waste is a good thing, but no magic bullet.

I think the whole point is that putting the waste in a landfill and getting extra power off the grid produces MORE greenhoues gases than disposing of waste/generating power using the gasification device. Still, shouldn't TFA still mention that the process still DOES produce pollution?

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