Pietzki - Slashdot User

Comment Pietzki (Score 1) 161

by Pietzki on Wednesday September 10, 2008 @02:48PM (#24950549) Attached to: Google Invests In Broadband For Poorer Countries

[sarcasm]yeah, nothing but advertising and market share. I mean if they really wanted to make a difference, why don't they just target the causes of problems?[/sarcasm] seriously people... yes, google (or anyone for that matter) could pump this money into feeding people for a year or two, but after that, things would still be the same. Western civilisation has been giving aid for how long now? And how much difference has it made (apart from keeping people alive another day so they can suffer tomorrow instead)? I am all for help for the poor and needy, it - but I beg to differ on what constitutes REAL help. I used to think that we should just support poor countries as much as we can, but now I know that the only way any country will ever learn to stand on its own two feet is if (well meaning but ultimately flawed) handouts stop. The economic recovery of Germany after WW2 didn't occur because people just 'gave' Germany food and medical care. It occurred because under the Marshall plan, the US made long term investments into infrastructure and the economy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirtschaftswunder I'm not saying that google has no other motives than helping the needy, but neither did the US with post WW2 Germany. If they can make a buck while doing good, then good on 'em! Please people - read, and then think before you form an opinion!

Ghostbusters Is First Film Released On USB Key 448

Posted by timothy on Wednesday September 03, 2008 @01:46PM from the free-gozer dept.

arcticstoat writes "Are you the USB keymaster? You could be soon if you pick up PNY's new 2GB USB flashdrive, which comes pre-loaded with Ghostbusters. A spokesperson for PNY explained that it comes with a form of DRM that prevents you from copying the movie. 'They have DRM protection,' explained the spokesperson, 'so customers can download the movie onto their laptop or PC if they wish, but they have to have the USB drive plugged in to watch the movie, as the DRM is locked in the USB drive.' The music industry has been playing around with USB flash drives for a few years now, but it hasn't been a massive success yet; will USB movies fare any better?"

A Chinese Challenge To Intel 364

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday September 03, 2008 @12:56PM from the bits-and-bytes dept.

motang writes "Chinese government funded Godson-3 a CPU that is developed to bring personal computing to majority of Chinese people by the year 2010. Will this pose any threat to Intel?"

ISO Relevance Questioned After OOXML Appeals Fail 236

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday September 03, 2008 @08:06AM from the burning-down-the-house dept.

Cowards Anonymous passes along an Australian PCWorld piece that begins "Countries whose appeals were dismissed regarding the ISO/IEC's approval of Microsoft's OOXML as an international standard are questioning the judgment and relevance of the ISO/IEC and the standards they approve. In a statement made at the Congresso Internacional Sociedade e Governo Electronico (CONSEGI) 2008 conference, representatives from three of the four countries that appealed against an April 1 vote to approve OOXML as a standard said they are 'no longer confident' in the ability of both the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission to be vendor-neutral and open when it comes to setting technology standards." Here is the statement signed by South Africa, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Cuba. The countries won't pursue further opposition to OOXML.

Reading Google Chrome's Fine Print 607

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday September 03, 2008 @05:03AM from the here-be-tygers dept.

Much ink and many electrons are being spilled over Google's Chrome browser (discussed here twice in recent days): from deep backgrounders to performance benchmarks to its vulnerability to a carpet-bombing flaw. The latest angle to be explored is Chrome's end-user license agreement. It does not look consumer-friendly. "By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the services and may be revoked for certain services as defined in the additional terms of those services."

"Anathem" Exclusive Video At MySpace 57

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday September 03, 2008 @02:16AM from the chants-of-a-lifetime dept.

Shawn M. Smith writes "We've recently discussed Neal Stephenson's imminent new novel 'Anathem.' Now, MySpace has an exclusive video, The World of Anathem, that accompanies the book, filled with the 'Gregorian chants' and ambient noise that were so eloquently described by numerous Slashdotters who had scored advance copies of Stephenson's latest tome."

User Charged With Taking ISP Tech Hostage 327

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday September 02, 2008 @11:55PM from the to-kidnap-or-not-to-kidnap dept.

User AttheCoalFac pointed us to an interesting tech support story from Canada. Halifax actress and playwright Carol Sinclair was arrested and is now facing criminal charges after a repairman says she threatened to hold him hostage until he fixed her Internet connection. Mrs. Sinclair denies the allegations and says that she merely stated, 'I don't want to hold you hostage, but would you mind hanging around until the other technician arrives so that the two of you can sort it out.' She was arraigned in Halifax Provincial Court Friday and is now free on conditions including that she have no contact with the repairman or any employee from her ISP. Having a lot of experience on both sides of this issue, I'm not sure who I'm cheering for.

Stanford's "Autonomous" Helicopters Learn 90

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday September 02, 2008 @10:07PM from the not-what-you-would-call-strong-ai dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Stanford computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence system that enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by 'watching' other helicopters perform the same maneuvers. The result is an autonomous helicopter that can perform a complete airshow of complex tricks on its own. The stunts are 'by far the most difficult aerobatic maneuvers flown by any computer controlled helicopter,' said Andrew Ng, the professor directing the research of graduate students Pieter Abbeel, Adam Coates, Timothy Hunter and Morgan Quigley. The dazzling airshow is an important demonstration of 'apprenticeship learning,' in which robots learn by observing an expert, rather than by having software engineers peck away at their keyboards in an attempt to write instructions from scratch.'" The title of the linked article uses the term "autonomous," but that's somewhat misleading. The copters can't fly on their own, but rather can duplicate complex maneuvers learned from a human pilot.

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