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Music

Internet Blackout Threat for Music Thieves in AU 244

Posted by Zonk from the that-seems-a-little-harsh dept.
An anonymous reader writes "News.com.au is reporting that the ARIA [Australia's Version of the RIAA] is making plans to have ISPs cancel or terminate the accounts of those who download music illegally. If the user is on dialup, that's not a problem: their telephone line will be disconnected. 'Fed up with falling sales, the industry — which claims Australians download more than one billion songs illegally each year — has been discussing tough new guidelines with internet service providers (ISPs) since late last year. The music industry is lobbying for a three strikes and you're out policy to enforce their copyright. Under this system, people who illegally download songs would be given three written warnings by their Internet service provider. If they continued to illegally download songs, their internet account would be suspended or terminated.'"

Feed Philips freshens up your landline with the ID9371 handset (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We know, it's hard to really brag about the aging landline you keep around for no good reason, but if you're looking for the hippest thing to hit PSTN since DSL, Philips' ID9371 just might be it. This sleek, sexy handset rocks all the dashing design cues of the avant-garde mobiles carried by the affluent set, but manages to operate on a lowly landline all the while. Aside from the obviously glossy paint job, adoration for fingerprints, and backlit display, the device also features a "soft-touch" enclosure, SIM-card copy support, built-in answering machine, alarm clock, caller ID, signal strength indicator, and XHD sound technology that purportedly delivers every tonal frequency imaginable. Sure, we're used to cramming cutting-edge gizmos into a retro casing, but kudos to Philips for doing things vice-versa.

[Via ShinyShiny]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
OS X

Why Apple Delayed Leopard for the iPhone 453

Posted by CowboyNeal from the next-big-things dept.
Ernest DeFarge writes "Apple recently announced that they've pulled several key programmers from the OS X 10.5 "Leopard" and assigned them to the iPhone in order to get it done on time. In doing so, they delayed Leopard for 4 months. Does that mean that the iPhone is more important to Apple than Mac OS? Or is it just capitalizing on the current state of Apple's fanbase?"

Feed Guidelines for autonomous killbots proposed (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Robots

Suggestions in regard to robotic rights seem to be flying off the shelves these days, but an engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Centre has concocted an interesting set of guidelines catering to autonomous killbots of the future. Most likely, it's just a matter of time before machine-on-machine violence becomes commonplace, and John Canning's "Concept of Operations for Armed Autonomous Systems" outlines just how lethal robots should handle themselves when faced with potentially deadly conflicts. Interestingly, the document suggests the the bots should be allowed to make their own decisions when it comes to blasting or forgiving fellow robots, but before they pull the trigger on a human, it should request guidance from a flesh 'n blood friendly. Still, a definite loophole exists in the fact that these simple-minded killers could aim for a "human's weapon" without asking permission, and when his awful auto-aim programming leads to a costly casualty, it'll simply be deemed "collateral damage." Can't say we like the sound of that. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via El Reg]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Microsoft

Submission + - Working Around Vista Apps Incompatibilities

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft says there are over 1,000 applications you can run on Windows Vista with few, if any, issues. However, given that there are tens of thousands of Windows apps, incompatibility remains a huge problem. Add to that the fact that x64 Vista versions don't support legacy 16-bit code, and that the Windows Resource Protection in Vista breaks some apps, and you've got a big issue. In How To Manage Windows Vista Application Compatibility, Nelson Ruest lists a host of nifty workarounds. He discusses Vista's compatibility mode, its Program Compatibility Assistant wizard, and a little know form of file and registry virtualization that's built into the OS, among others. What problems have you encountered with incompatible apps, and are any issues you've encountered deal-breakers which could further roil the already muddied adoption picture for Vista?
Microsoft

Microsoft Pressures Testers After Software Leak 263

Posted by CowboyNeal from the everyone-play-nice dept.
narramissic writes "ITworld reports that Microsoft is 'taking tough measures to find out who leaked a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Home Server to The Hotfix.net blog.' The software preview was posted on the site by a user named 'Richard' soon after it was released to a small group of testers. In an e-mail to MVPs whose names contain 'Richard,' Kevin Beares, the Windows Home Server community lead at Microsoft, wrote: 'For right now, you have no access to the beta until I can find the Richard who posted the WHS (Windows Home Server) CTP on this site.... I will work with the Connect Admin team to determine which one of you is the real culprit of this leak.'"
Censorship

Submission + - SQL-Ledger Relicensed, Community Gagged

Submitted by
Ashley Gittins
Ashley Gittins writes: "Users of the popular accounting package SQL-Ledger are being kept in the dark about a recent license change. Two weeks ago a new version of the software was released but along with it came the silent change of license from GPLv2 to the "SQL-Ledger Open Source License" — presumably in an effort to prevent future forks like LedgerSMB. As it turns out, the author is making deliberate attempts to prevent the community from finding out about the license change. All posts to the SQL-Ledger mailing lists asking about the license change are being censored and direct questions to the author are going unanswered. This behaviour is not a first for this particular project, and is part of the reason for the original LedgerSMB fork. So, does a project maintainer have an ethical obligation to notify his or her community of a license change? What about a legal obligation?"
The Almighty Buck

IRS To Go After eBay Sellers 310

Posted by Zonk from the face-the-music dept.
prostoalex writes "Fed up with numerous violations of tax law by individuals and businesses selling goods on eBay, Amazon Marketplace, uBid.com, etc., IRS is pushing Congress to make online marketplaces responsible for reporting the sales information to the tax man, in order to prevent under-reporting of the income. eBay's 'own statistics suggest that there are 1.3 million people around the world who make their primary or secondary source of income through eBay, with just over 700,000 in the United States', News.com says." How long before the same fate befalls the folks who make a living working the Massively Multiplayer secondary markets?
Space

Mars Global Surveyor Died from Single Bad Command 141

Posted by Zonk from the damn-space-bugs dept.
wattsup writes "The LA Times reports that a single wrong command sent to the wrong computer address caused a cascade of events that led to the loss of the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft last November. The command was an orientation instruction for the spacecraft's main communications antenna. The mistake caused a problem with the positioning of the solar power panels, which in turned caused one of the batteries to overheat, shutting down the solar power system and draining the batteries some 12 hours later. 'The review panel found the management team followed existing procedures in dealing with the problem, but those procedures were inadequate to catch the errors that occurred. The review also said the spacecraft's onboard fault-protection system failed to respond correctly to the errors. Instead of protecting the spacecraft, the programmed response made it worse.'"
Supercomputing

Shaking a 275-ton Building 110

Posted by Zonk from the without-using-your-superpowers dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "If you want to predict how a tall building can resist to an earthquake, some researchers have better tools than others. Engineers from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) have built a full-size 275-ton building and really shaken it to obtain earthshaking images. The building was equipped with some 600 sensors and filmed as the shake table simulated the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles, California. It gave so much data to the engineers to analyze that they needed a supercomputer to help them. Now they hope their study will yield to better structure performance for future buildings in case of earthquakes."

Feed Male And Female Brain Patterns Differ During Reaching (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
Men's and women's brains "fire" differently when they are planning how to reach for something, so rehabilitation after brain injuries such as strokes may need to be tailored to the sex of the person, says a new study. Researchers found differences in patterns of brain activity in men and women preparing to do visually-guided actions related to tasks such as using a computer mouse or driving a car.

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