Stymie - Slashdot User

US Tests System To Evade Foreign Web Censorship 219

Posted by timothy on Friday August 14, 2009 @08:12AM from the worthy-objective dept.

D1gital_Prob3 excerpts from a Reuters story that says "The US government is covertly testing technology in China and Iran that lets residents break through screens set up by their governments to limit access to news on the Internet. The 'feed over email' (FOE) system delivers news, podcasts and data via technology that evades web-screening protocols of restrictive regimes, said Ken Berman, head of IT at the US government's Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is testing the system. The news feeds are sent through email accounts including those operated by Google, Microsoft's Hotmail, and Yahoo. 'We have people testing it in China and Iran,' said Berman, whose agency runs Voice of America. He provided few details on the new system, which is in the early stages of testing. He said some secrecy was important to avoid detection by the two governments."

Brendan Eich Explains ECMAScript 3.1 To Developers 94

Posted by timothy on Friday April 17, 2009 @09:01AM from the focus-on-the-blink-tag dept.

VonGuard writes "On April 9, ECMA International produced the final draft for the first major update to JavaScript since 1999. It's called ECMAScript 3.1, but will soon be known as ECMAScript, Fifth Edition. You'll know it as JavaScript, the Next Generation. Mozilla will begin implementing these features after Firefox 3.5, and Microsoft is already showing prototypes behind closed doors. The question, however, is what this will change for JavaScript coders. To get those answers, I tracked down Brendan Eich, Mozilla's CTO and the creator of JavaScript. I transcribed the interview without any editorial since he explains, perfectly, what's changing for programmers. Long story short: Json will be safer, getters and setters will be standard, and strict mode will make things easier to debug."

TiVo Announces DVR-SuperAdvance 75

Posted by timothy on Wednesday April 01, 2009 @05:54PM from the so-next-week dept.

mark0 writes "TiVo has announced the TiVo DVR-SuperAdvance. The PC World review says, 'Familiar TiVo interface; DVR can record not-yet-broadcast programming; potentially useful as a wagering aid,' though, '[it is] expensive; access to programming is limited; footage is displayed in standard definition only.'" Hopefully, TiVo will supply a review unit.

CloudLeft Public License Closes User Data Loophole 70

Posted by timothy on Wednesday April 01, 2009 @03:22PM from the for-great-justice dept.

FreedomFighter writes "In a Cloud Standards breakthrough, the FSF is teaming up with major cloud computing vendors to form the Free and Open Cloud Alliance (FOCA), a trade marketing association supporting Free(TM) and Open Cloud Computing (FOCC). The new CloudLeft Public License (CPL) is based on the ideas that data wants to be Free(TM) and all your Cloud(TM) are belong to us. It closes the 'user data loophole' by requiring the release of not only the source code for a CloudLeft platform but also the data passing through it. This renders most security issues void while appropriately setting the users' expectation of privacy. 'In the past, I've said that "cloud" is complete gibberish, but while discussing fashion during my weekly squash game with Stallman he convinced me that this was a great opportunity.' said Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle. RMS, who previously said that 'cloud' is worse than stupidity was also pleased about the return of the advertising clause, requiring the use of the 'GNU/Cloud' name, as he is 'tired of haranguing the GNU/Linux community about this.' Full details will be available next Monday, including the first marketing and outreach program — 'FOCC: IT in 2009.'"

Yeast-Powered Fuel Cell Feeds On Human Blood 250

Posted by timothy on Wednesday April 01, 2009 @02:38PM from the because-you-need-some-serious-news-too dept.

holy_calamity writes "Canadian researchers have taken a sensible, if slightly creepy, step towards solving the problem of medical implant batteries running down. They've built a fuel cell powered by yeast that feed on the glucose in human blood. If this makes it into people, keeping your implants going will be as simple as eating a donut."

Amazon Uses DMCA To Restrict Ebook Purchases 409

Posted by timothy on Thursday March 12, 2009 @03:24PM from the do-not-read-this-dept-line dept.

InlawBiker writes "Today, Amazon invoked the DMCA to force removal of a python script and instructions from the mobileread web site. The script is used to identify the Kindle's internal ID number, which can be used to enable non-Amazon purchased books to work on the Kindle. '...this week we received a DMCA take-down notice from Amazon requesting the removal of the tool kindlepid.py and instructions for it. Although we never hosted this tool (contrary to their claim), nor believe that this tool is used to remove technological measures (contrary to their claim), we decided, due to the vagueness of the DMCA law and our intention to remain in good relation with Amazon, to voluntarily follow their request and remove links and detailed instructions related to it.' Ironically, the purpose of the script is to make the Kindle more useful to its users."

Game Industry Optimistic About Surviving Economic Crisis 52

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday November 27, 2008 @03:08AM from the food-is-boring-buy-a-console dept.

CNet is running a story about how the gaming industry is looking at the recent economic troubles. Despite their status as luxury items, games and game systems have seen strong sales numbers in recent months, and that trend is expected to continue into the holiday season. Most companies are optimistic, despite the fact that many of their stock values have been hit hard and that analysts' views are divided on whether game-related purchases will be one of the first things cut from consumers' budgets. "'I do think that the video game industry is going to do reasonably well in this time of recession because video games are a pretty damned efficient use of time,' said Bridges. 'That said, the...industry has some other problems that it has been ignoring for awhile and that are creeping up on it.' Essentially, Bridges explained, he thinks that the dominance of giant publishers like EA and their general reliance on physical, in-the-box, units, can't hold up. Instead, he said, new tools, ubiquitous broadband and hungry independent developers are going to all combine to eat away at the continued supremacy of the $60 big-name title. And that could spell big trouble for the industry."

The Science of the Lightsaber 197

Posted by samzenpus on Monday November 17, 2008 @12:08PM from the the-force dept.

Smartcowboy writes "Chances are that you have seen a lightsaber at one time or another, whether on the evening news or down at the local cantina. Therefore you know that a lightsaber is an amazing and versatile device that is able to cut through nearly anything in a matter of milliseconds. Have you ever wondered how these remarkable weapons work? Where does the energy come from, and how are they able to contain that energy in a rod-like column of glowing power? In this article, you will have a chance to look inside a lightsaber and discover the source of its incredible characteristics." I was sure the blade was made from the focused hate and disappointment of the last three movies.

Journal Journal: PC Superstore Admits Linux Hinge Repair Mistake. 193

Journal by Erris on Friday September 14, 2007 @11:25PM

PC Superstore says their store manager was wrong to turn away a client with a broken hinge who's machine should have been repaired.:

Submission + - Record High Frequency Achieved

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Monday April 16, 2007 @10:59AM

eldavojohn writes: "Researchers at UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science managed to push our control of frequencies to another level when they hit a submillimeter 324 gigahertz frequency. As any signal geek out there might tell you, this is a non-trivial task. From the article, "With traditional 90-nanometer CMOS circuit approaches, it is virtually impossible to generate usable submillimeter signals with a frequency higher than about 190 GHz. That's because conventional oscillator circuits are nonlinear systems in which increases in frequency are accompanied by a corresponding loss in gain or efficiency and an increase in noise, making them unsuitable for practical applications." The article also talks about the surprising applications this new technology may evolve into including seeing through clothing. While one might dream up more perverse situations to use this in, it is unsurprising that this is instead targeting military/security applications for seeing hidden explosive devices and/or weapons."

Was Videogaming Better Back in the Day? 381

Posted by Zonk on Monday April 16, 2007 @10:58AM from the these-new-fangled-gears-and-half-lives dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Sean Sands at Gamers With Jobs looks back at the dawn of videogaming, when we were all kids just typing in our games, one line of BASIC at a time. And he finds the present lacking: 'The dreamers became assets instead of leaders, and the rockstar designers became, well, Rockstar ... or Blizzard, or Valve. Publishers with cash-rich money to spend bought the creative process, and the minds of marketing professionals replaced four guys hopped up on sugar doughnuts and generic cola. So, how dare I be surprised that the price of today's gaming blitz is a little piece of last generation's soul?' Do you agree? Was simple gaming better, or are you a story in games fan?"

Submission + - Enforced ad-watching coming to Flash video players

Submitted by Dominare on Monday April 16, 2007 @10:57AM

Dominare writes: The BBC is reporting that Adobe is releasing new player software which will allow websites that use their Flash video player (such as YouTube) e.g. to force viewers to watch ads before the video they selected will play. From TFA:

But the big seller for Adobe is the ability to include in Flash movies so-called digital rights management (DRM) — allowing copyright holders to require the viewing of adverts, or restrict copying. "Adobe has created the first way for media companies to release video content, secure in the knowledge that advertising goes with it," James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research said.

This seems to have been timed to coincide with Microsoft's release of their own competitor, Silverlight, to Adobe's dominance of online video.

Feed News: Norwegian party pushes for legal file sharing (macworld.com)

From feed by macworldfeed on Monday April 16, 2007 @10:52AM

A Norwegian political party has called on the government to ban DRM (digital rights management) technology and legalize file-sharing.

Feed California gang members to sport GPS trackers (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed on Monday April 16, 2007 @10:52AM

Filed under: GPS

Things just seem to be going downhill ever since the courts ruled that dodgy GPS tracking wasn't unlawful, and here again we're seeing Big Brother tactics being used to keep a sharp eye on ex-criminals. While no variety of console is being handed out to folks who rat out San Bernardino County gang members, officials are hoping to get several Senate Bills and an Assembly Bill passed which would divvy out "harsher punishments and monitoring standards for gang members." Essentially, ex-gang members would be required to sport GPS tracking devices so The Man can "track adult gang members currently on probation," which certainly would give them a reason to ponder whether jumping at the next temptation is really worth it. Currently, the pilot program is up and running in Apple Valley and Victorville, and so far "35 adult probationers have been fitted with GPS devices," but if you mischievous ones are counting on a lack of funding to dry this initiative up real quick like, you should probably know that Sentinel is providing the devices for the current program "at no cost."

[Via TheRawFeed]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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!

Amazon Goes Web 2.0 Wild to Defend 1-Click Patent 77

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday April 16, 2007 @10:36AM from the no-really-it's-cool-when-we-do-it dept.

theodp writes "Six years ago, Jeff Bezos and Tim O'Reilly urged the masses to give-patent-reform-a-chance as Richard Stallman called for an Amazon boycott. On Monday, the pair will reunite to kick off O'Reilly's new Amazon-sponsored Web 2.0 Expo with A Conversation with Jeff Bezos. Be interesting if the conversation turned to Amazon's ongoing battle against an actor's effort to topple Bezos' 1-Click patent, which The Register notes included dumping 58 lbs. of paperwork on the patent examiner, including dozens of articles from the oh-so-Web-2.0 Wikipedia, which the USPTO had already deemed an un acceptable source of information ('From a legal point of view, a Wiki citation is toilet paper,' quipped patent expert Greg Aharonian)."

Slashdot Top Deals